NO MORE SUSHI?

I am a Japanese by origin and love sushi, but reject the nonsensical argument that raw tuna is an essential part of Japanese diet.  Sushi and Sashimi can use other fish like Koi (carp) which is increasing so fast threatening ecology of the Great Lakes.  Equally I reject the argument that whale meat is a traditional Japanese food.  Let CITES ban trade of bluefin tuna.  And stop the carnage of whales.  In Japan, the fishing industries are so powerful that all political parties tremble when they speak.  Thus lies become truth.

Sushi lovers can happily pursue delicious sushi without raw tuna.  I organize a sushi making contest every year in Lethbridge with a bunch of friends, all hedonists who would never allow cheap food on their palates.  Contestants join the competition on the condition that they avoid the use of raw meats.  There are hundreds of possibilities to create delicious and beautiful sushi without using raw fish or uncooked meat.  For example, California Roll is a vegetarian dish.  My favourite is Inarizushi, made of rice and vinegar stuffed in pockets of thin fried tofu.  My mother used to feast us with totally vegetarian  Osaka-style Chirashi Sushi.   Many contestant sushi makers learn those beautiful and delicious sushi on internet.    You can never see the kinds I saw at our Sushi-Off in the restaurants.  They are so beautiful; I wish I can show you the pictures.  Let’s stop using raw tuna and let the species recover.  I hope it isn’t too late.

As for whale, that it is labeled as a traditional Japanese diet is a totally invented myth.  The first time I was offered whale meat, it was by a man working for a Japanese Trading company in Vancouver in 1964.  I could not eat it more than a tiny bite thinking about the intelligent creature murdered and butchered.  I grew up in Japan and came to Canada in 1957.  I had never heard nor seen whale meat as a part of our diet.  It’s a completely different story in the case of seal meat for Inuit.   Let us build up a strong public opinion to completely ban whale hunt, no more nonsense calling killing of hundreds of whales for “scientific research.”