KYODO NEWS - Jul 8, 2019 - 14:30 | All, Japan

A major department store in Osaka on Monday started selling whale meat from the catch of Japan's commercial whaling fleet, which resumed its activities last week after a 31-year hiatus.

The Hankyu Department Store chain's flagship outlet, which had previously sold by-product whale meat from the country's so-called research whaling, stocked around 30 kilograms of red meat from minke whales caught off the coast of Kushiro in Hokkaido last Thursday.

"I want to show the younger generation, who aren't familiar with whale meat, how delicious it is," said a member of staff at the store, located in the western city's Umeda district.

Shelves were lined with sashimi sold at 599 yen ($5.53) per 100 grams, together with deep-fried options cooked in-store. A limited amount of free samples was also available.

"The meat is sweet without any smell. The taste brings back memories of school meals," said Shinichi Yasutomi, a 58-year-old company employee in Osaka who tried the meat.

As a member of the International Whaling Commission, Japan halted commercial whaling in 1988 but hunted whales for what it called research purposes, a practice criticized internationally as a cover for commercial whaling.

Japan had long sought to lift the moratorium and finally left the IWC on June 30 after the organization last September voted down its proposal to resume commercial whaling of species considered abundant, such as minke whales.

Related coverage:

1st whale meat auction held since restart of Japan's commercial hunt

Japan resumes commercial whaling after 3-decade hiatus

(People taste whale meat at an event in Tokyo on June 13, 2019, sponsored by a cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers that supports the resumption of commercial whaling.)

(Photo taken in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2018, shows a restaurant specializing in whale meat.)