When the Year of the Boar last popped up on the Chinese zodiac calendar, exactly 12 years ago, few thought to celebrate the hairy tuskers by eating them.

This year, however, consuming wild game is gaining in popularity in Japan, and wild boar meat is one of the favorites on menus featuring what Japanese refer to as "jibie" from the French name "gibier" for wild game. While gibier is available in many parts of the country, it's Tottori Prefecture, in the Chugoku region of Honshu, that aims to take game to the next level.

Japan's most sparsely people-populated prefecture, Tottori boasts rolling mountains and fresh waters loaded with deer and boar. Since both animals damage crops, lack predators in Japan and threaten the natural balance in delicate forest ecosystems, hunters have been given license to cull animal populations. Eager to not be wasteful — by burying or burning game — hunters have liaised with leaders in Tottori to bring the idea of game consumption out of the woods.