I don't eat much meat, partly due to my dog, who snags it before I. But I do lov…

I don’t eat much meat, partly due to my dog, who snags it before I. But I do love bashashi - horse sashimi - a Kumamoto delicacy, so I decided to look into it. Turns out horses, all native to Central Asia, migrated to Japan - particularly over the land bridge that existed between Korea and Kyushu - during the last ice age, explaining their importance here. They (the horses) may have soon regretted their relocation as the locals thought “Meat?! Cool! Let’s eat it raw!” And then you add some weak soy sauce and ginger and you’ve got yourself a meal. Horses here range from small, feral types to gigantic plow horses - and the latter is the type displayed at Boshta Matsuri, which, likely to their relief, has been cancelled this year.

A point of interest for kanji fans is that the kanji for a horse as an animal is 馬, while that for one respected for some purpose (such as enduring a festival or being served on a plate) is reversed to what is called a “hidari uma,” (left horse, 左馬), written in reverse as shown below. - William https://this.kiji.is/680602195549029473?c=92619697908483575