People in Kyushu enjoy eating horse meat and some even
eat raw horse meat. Regarded as a delicacy, it is chewy and has a
surprisingly sweet flavor. Cuts from the hindquarters are regarded
as the best. Most of the horsemeat is imported from United States,
South Korea, Chile and Australia. Horse is also widely eaten by
people on France and Belgium.
Seven of eight breeds of horse indigenous to Japan have
less than 100 horse left. These include the Tokara horse on Tokara
Island in Kagoshima Island and the Koiso of Gogfu and Nagano
Prefectures. These horses are short in stature, and are believed to
have descended from Mongolian horses. Efforts are being to breed
them in zoos. The Tokara horse, standing only 120 centimeters at
the shoulder, is the shortest Japanese horse breed. It has been
bred to be resistant to heat and work in sugarcane fields. Rhe Kiso
horses were favored by warriors in the Minamoto clan in the 12th
century and once there were tens of thousands of them.
The medium-size Kiso horse is the only horse breed
indigenous to Honshu. Named after the Kisogawa River in Nagano
Prefecture, it is known for its long body and short, robust legs
and amicable temperament. Over the centuries it has been used
mainly as a farm animal. The breed nearly went extinct when the
government began encouraging owners to crossbred them with other
breed to produce stronger war horses in Meiji Period. In 1939,
before World War II, a law called for the castration of Kiso and
other indigenous horses to Japan. Every Kiso that is alive today
can trace its origin back to a single stallion in 1949. Today there
are about 150 Kiso horses. Inbreeding is a serious concern because
there are so few of the horses. As a result all living Kiso horses
have had their DNA analyzed and have been divided into five groups
that will breed only with horses outside their group to try and
ensure the most genetic diversity possible.
Most Japanese horse saw their numbers sharply decline
un the early 20th century a result of crossbreeding with foreign
breed to produce strong horses for the military. In 1900 90 percent
of the 1.5 million horse in Japan belonged tp indigenous breeds. At
the start of the occupation of China in 1931, 90 percent were
foreign breeds or crossbreeds.
Dare not to try myself.
But Komade and ALN... what about you ?
