In a former whaling port in southern Chiba Prefecture, a merchants' association is attempting to raise spirits by selling the unconventional: whale meat hot dogs.
The Katsuyama Port Street Okamisan (middle-age female shop manager) Association began selling whale cutlet dogs, whale "tatsuta" (deep-fried) dogs and whale omelet dogs on Oct. 2, when the town of Kyonan, which stopped whaling about a century ago, held its Kyonan Kujira no Miyako Matsuri (Festival of the City of Whales in Kyonan).
The hot dogs use meat from Baird's beaked whales, or North Pacific bottlenose whales, which are in the small-whale category and not regulated by the International Whaling Commission. Japan in 2008 caught 64 Baird's beaked whales — 13 in Hokkaido, 25 in Miyagi Prefecture and 26 in Chiba Prefecture, according to the Fisheries Agency.