News Akita bear-meat vending machine proves popular

The meat, which sells for ¥2,200 (£13/$16.50) per 250g, is proving popular with passengers alighting at a nearby railway station in Semboku. Still, the operator has also received requests for mail order deliveries from Tokyo, about 400km away. The machine, which touts its contents as a regional speciality, was stocked with locally killed wild bears and sold a mixture of lean and fatty meat, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said. The meat came from bears captured in the mountains by members of a local hunting club who were permitted to kill a certain number during the annual hunting season, the paper added. The vending machine appeared in November after Soba Goro, a local restaurant, spied an opportunity to use ursine cuisine as a tourist attraction. Bear meat consumption is highest in northern Japan, sold in cans and even as instant curry. It has a slightly gamey flavour that some have likened to venison and is often served in a stew. "Bear meat tastes clean and doesn't get tough," a Soba Goro spokesperson told the Mainichi.

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Majestic said:

Ah - I should have put my bear meat comment here in this thread. Anyway, the tl:dr version is: I had it, its overrated.

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