100 Views of a Town in Japan: Horses
Horses on a snowy spring day in Japan. April 2021
One of the first things I noticed in the packet that my job shipped to me four years ago was “horse meat.” According to the information they gave me, the town I would be coming to in Japan was known for its horse meat, called 馬肉, baniku. At first I was surprised: I had never thought of eating horse meat before, just as much as I could not imagine eating dog or cat meat (don't worry, I've never encountered those in Japan). Once I came here, though, I've come to see it is mainly a cultural difference. On the other side of things, people here wonder why we don't eat horse in the US. Now I wonder, too, but with a little digging for information, I can see the reasoning behind why eating horse is not a thing where I'm from. However, it is quite common in a number of other countries, so it seems the US is the odd one out on this topic.
Now putting aside all the issues behind the topic of horse meat, I'd like to share and appreciate the cultural differences between Japan and my hometown.
馬肉汁, banikujiru. Aomori, Japan. September 2017.
My town's main specialty in regards to horse meat is the 馬肉汁, banikujiru, or horse meat soup. You can find it at festivals, in some restaurants, and sometimes in school lunch. The meat is quite tender, and is cooked in small slices in the hearty soup.
馬刺し, basashi, horse sashimi in Aomori, Japan. September 2017.
At the main horse meat restaurant in town, you can also try raw horse sashimi, called 馬刺し. I'm still not sure what to think of it even though I've eaten it a few times at work parties. The taste is hard to describe. It's very soft. The dipping sauce is good.
Horse meat pizza in Aomori, Japan. September 2017.
You can also find horse meat on pizza (a very small, Japanese-style pizza).
If you are in Japan and don't have any qualms about eating horse, I definitely recommend trying these kinds of specialty dishes out. There are certainly more adventurous foods here, but horse meat has stood out to me as one that shows an interesting difference between my town life here and life back in the US.