As Mrs M and I were returning from a visit to the in-laws the other day, we noticed something rather strange happening on the forecourt of an Eneos petrol station. For a split second, Mrs M thought we had stumbled upon a murder scene, but a closer look revealed something far less sinister, namely our second encounter with an inoshishi (猪 / wild boar) in the past year (the first one gave rise to a disappointingly blurry photograph).
As anyone who’s seen the film Deliverance will tell you, it’s usually best to avoid groups of country folk who own guns, drive pick-up trucks and wear fishing vests and baseball caps, but while their replies to my questions were very much on the monosyllabic side (‘Is that a wild boar?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Did you kill it yourselves?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘With a gun?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Will you keep the hide?’ ‘No.’), that was due more to Japanese reserve than redneck menace.
You need to apply to the town hall for a special licence to hunt wild boar, and the official season runs from 15th November until 15th March. According to our community newsletter, during the 2010 / 2011 season the wild boar population was reduced by a grand total of 62: 53 of them trapped and 9 of them shot. An interesting way to spend a Wednesday evening, I reckon, and enough meat at the end of it to feed a small army – or at least a medium sized hunting party.
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I’d bet the reason they don’t keep the hide is a historical avoidance of tanners in Japan. It used to be reserved for the “unclean” outcasts when there was a class system. If you live rural in Japan, though you’ll likely come across some type of mroe casual slaughter. I once saw some villagers preping a goat at the port since that was the easiest way to get rid of the vicera. Odd note, they burned off the hair.
I know what you mean about the whole burakumin / 部落民 thing, although I suspect that these days they just don’t have any use for the hide any more (in the old days they might have made clothing from it, I suppose).
As for goat sacrifices, that’s veering into black magic / devil worship territory – I’d watch your back if I was you!