Why Japan Never Fell in Love with Lamb and Mutton

Meat is a very popular ingredient in Japanese Cuisine except for one…Lamb and Mutton

Lamb Meat

Japan’s Missing Meat

Japan loves meat.

Walk through any Japanese city and you will find restaurants specializing in beef, pork, and chicken. Yakiniku Korean BBQ restaurants serve premium wagyu. Tonkatsu shops are everywhere. Yakitori has become a staple of Japanese dining.

Yet one meat remains strangely absent.

Lamb and mutton occupies a central place in the cuisines of countries as diverse as Australia, New Zealand, Mongolia, Turkey, and much of the Middle East. Millions of people around the world consider it an everyday ingredient.

In Japan, however, lamb and mutton remains a niche product.

Outside of Hokkaido and a handful of specialty restaurants, it is surprisingly difficult to find. Many Japanese have never cooked lamb or mutton at home. Others associate it with a distinctive smell that they find unpleasant.

This raises an interesting question:

Why did Japan embrace beef, pork, and chicken, but never fall in love with lamb?

A Strange Exception

The answer cannot simply be that Japanese people dislike meat.

Japan consumes enormous quantities of beef, pork, and chicken. Entire restaurant chains have been built around them. Japanese cuisine has developed countless dishes utilizing these meats, from gyudon (beef bowls) and yakiniku to tonkatsu and yakitori.

Lamb and mutton never found a similar place.

Even a simple trip to the supermarket reveals the difference. Beef, pork, and chicken occupy entire refrigerated sections. Lamb, if it is available at all, often occupies only a small corner of the meat aisle.

The contrast becomes even more striking when compared to countries where lamb is considered completely ordinary.

The Hokkaido Exception

There is one place where the story changes.

Hokkaido.

Anyone who has visited Hokkaido is likely familiar with Jingisukan, the grilled lamb/mutton dish named after Genghis Khan.

Unlike the rest of Japan, lamb/mutton enjoys a noticeable presence in Hokkaido’s food culture.

Jingisukan, Hokkaido’s Lamb dish

Why did lamb gain a foothold there while remaining largely absent elsewhere?

That question turns out to be the key to understanding the larger mystery.

The Real Explanation

Most people assume the answer comes down to taste.

Others blame geography or import costs.

The reality is far more interesting.

The story involves Japan’s mountainous terrain, the history of sheep farming, the rise of beef during the Meiji era, supermarket economics, consumer habits, and a simple fact that most people never think about:

Japanese cuisine never really made room for lamb or mutton.

Read the Full Article here (free read)

In the full article, I explore:

• Why Japan was never a sheep country
• How beef, pork, and chicken won the battle for the Japanese dinner table
• The surprising role of Hokkaido in Japan’s lamb/mutton story
• Why supermarkets reveal more than restaurants
• And what Japan’s relationship with lamb/mutton tells us about how food cultures evolve