A new sushi shop has recently opened in a fashionable back alley of Ebisu, but don't go expecting choice cuts of fatty tuna. Kato Meat Sushi caters exclusively to carnivores, with platters of horse meat, chicken, beef and pork, with much of it being served raw.
Raw horse meat, you say? It's long been considered a delicacy in Japan and the concept of serving it as sashimi (basashi, or sakuraniku) has been around for awhile. It's not too unusual to find at izakaya, especially the ones that specialize in regional cuisine. At Kato Meat Sushi, however, it's the star of the menu. Customers can choose the grade of raw horse, just as if they would with tuna: lean, medium or fatty. The more fatty the meat, the higher the price: It's ¥160 for a couple of pieces of lean, while medium fatty costs ¥280.
The beef on the menu is premium Japanese beef (wagyu), which is also often enjoyed raw, though usually not served as sushi. Unluckily for the owners, the store opened just as reports of a foot and mouth outbreak in Miyazaki were hitting the front pages, meaning that the ongoing cattle cull could make this item harder to come by.