(January 13–14, 2018)Eat Up the Whale Culture of Boso! Tour
We will visit the Boso Peninsula, where whale culture is alive and well, and visit a whale fishing port, museum, and whale burial mound. Eat up all the history and culture as well as the cuisine of a town that has advanced together with whales. Two days and one night full of whales.
In Minamiboso, where the history and traditions of coastal whaling live on
Experience the local culture of whale use
This tour will take you to the Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture to experience the whale culture of Boso. The Minamiboso region has nurtured a unique food culture with whales. You can enjoy various whale dishes while visiting a museum, a whale burial mound, and a fishing port as well as walking around the town to experience a history and culture that has advanced together with whales. How about trying a whale lunch box limited to only 30 a day, whale cutlets, whale sashimi, whale manju, and souvenir whale jerky? From the ecology of whales to the history of coastal whaling to whale cuisine, this two-day, one-night tour will give you a taste of whales from various angles.
Planners and Participants
Shin Kotoku (Environmental Education) / Shiori Asazuma (Fine Arts) / Haru Hidaka (Fine Arts) / Rion Nakajima (Home Economics) / Kyoko Suzuki (Researcher)
Impressions
Participating in this tour, I felt the depth of the relationship between whales and people's lives. They have created cuisine and tools using whales, as well as processing techniques to preserve whale meat. The technology for whaling has also evolved, from harpoons to nets, and in modern times, a cannon-based method called a harpoon cannon. What we can read from this is the organization of whaling and the advancement of technology, which suggests the changes in the lives of people who live near the water. Whaling has not come to an end, and there are even burial mounds for whale memorials and places to pray for a good harvest, so you can see just by taking a short tour how deeply whales are rooted in the lives of the people of Minamiboso. I would like to find out what people think of whales in Minamiboso, and I would like to investigate the relationship between people's lives and whales, including folk tales and folklore. I would also like to see the whale butchering show at Wada Fishing Port, the whaling base we visited, and visit the Whale Museum in Wakayama Prefecture. (R.N)