[steven]

I don't want to get too involved in this conversation, but I have seen whale meat quite frequently in the stores near my place. In fact, there was a whole lot of whale sashimi two days ago at the market I go to the most. I've seen it at other stores as well, and I'm not even sure it's a seasonal thing to be honest (although I feel like I've seen more than ever before in the last year... particularly since the spring. It could just be me becoming more aware of it though). People around here don't seem to really be offended or even all that embarassed by whale meat. However, when I went to a certain festival in Ishikawa-ken in Februrary (of 2009), I bought what was basically a sashimi-don (a whole lot of sashimi piled on some rice). They gave me some extra meat for free and threw in some whale meat with the "shhh" gesture.

I'm not gonna try to elaborate on the "shhh" gesture or it being widely available in stores around here... I just wanted to pass that information on to give another account on the whale-awareness in Japan. Unlike your situation, Columbine, I don't think people would be surprised in finding whale meat at the store at all (edit: in my area).