The sakura season is here! The question is, does this refer to the horsemeat season or the cherry blossom season? It's hard to tell when the Japanese use the word "sakura" to describe horse meat, which is pink. Sakura nabe is not nabe made with cherry blossoms, for example, but nabe made with horsemeat. So, is it the horsemeat season or the cherry blossom season? Is it kanpai or is it mmmmm!

In Nagano, which has one of the highest horsemeat consumption rates in Japan, it may be both seasons at the same time. You can get horse sukiyaki in Nagano as well as otaguri — a stew containing horsemeat and internal organs. I don't know if you can get the same stew with external organs, or pianos. They say that in Nagano, horsemeat is so popular, it is even prepared at home. Do you think that after you cut off its head the horse runs around like a chicken does? That could really do damage to your kitchen. Or maybe the appealing thing about horse meat is that you can take a ride around the paddock first: Try before you buy.

Interestingly, a recent study announced that men in Nagano live the longest in Japan, with an average of 79.84 years. Apparently, some people believe this could be due to the high intake of horsemeat in the Nagano region. If true, horsemeat doesn't seem to do the same thing for women as Okinawa has Japan's longest living women. And just in case your morbid mind is wondering, the prefecture with the shortest lifespan for both men and women is Aomori, where men live to be an average of 76.27 and women to 84.80. Obviously, men in Aomori who are 76 years old should just move to Nagano to add a few years on to their lives.