[JustMe]

I personally, would never try whale or bear or anything strange, unusual and rare that had a pulse.

Yes, it's true that America has a bad history of cruelty when dealing with large amounts of farm animals, but so have many other countries.
I'm sure there are chicken or cow farms in Japan that are as disgusting as some of America's.
I'm sure there are fish farms there that aren't very pleasant, too.

It may be in Japanese culture to eat many different sea animals, but when people go out to kill an animal (whale, bear, snake, rare fish), purely for the sake of tasting it, to me that is very wrong.

I occasionally eat meat and fish, and I like it. I'm definitely not against it.
But when a human being can live a perfectly healthy life eating vegetables etc. and small amounts of meat/fish, then why do we need to hunt, kill and eat whales and so on unnecessarily? Purely for taste or a tick on a list.

Everything we need nutritionally can be found in fish and meats that are farmed sustainably and humanely.
Of course, exotic and strange animals are always going to be eaten by people because they want to explore and taste things they've never had before.
But when harpooning a whale species to the point of almost becoming endangered because it tastes "like heaven, and melts in the mouth", that is just ridiculous and should be illegal, no matter whose custom it is.

Unless the animal that people wish to eat can be farmed or fished humanely and sustainably, it should not be on a menu.
Having something rare, old and complex killed because you happen to like the flavour is laughable.