Dallas chef Jimmy Niwa spent nearly two years in Japan, teaching culinary arts in an urban center set in a more rural part of the country.
He started to notice how toward the 29th of the month, he'd see crazy supermarket specials on meat and then, on the day itself, long lines out the door of local steakhouses.
What was going on?
Meat Day, that's what. The Day of Meats. A celebration of carnivorousness that Niwa will import to Dallas this Thursday, March 29, at his eponymous restaurant, Niwa Japanese BBQ, in Deep Ellum.
"It's just something that's fun, and Texas loves meat," says Niwa, whose restaurant focuses on yakiniku, or grilled meats. "It's just a celebration. We're celebrating meat."
Let's not mince words here. Japan loves meat. We'll sink our teeth into that in a moment. But first you must understand that Japan also loves puns, and the Japanese language, with its plentiful homophones -- words that, while pronounced the same, mean different things -- is rife for such wordplay.
Enter Meat Day, a natural offshoot (for Japan, anyway) of the fact that the words for the number two (ni) and nine (kyuu), when said in succession, sound just like niku, the Japanese word for meat.
This makes the 29th day of every month a time to mark meat's majesty. Feb. 9 is even more special, being the second month's ninth day, and the even rarer Feb. 29, falling as it does only every fourth year, is the most meat-ingful of all -- a Leap Day of Meat!
Japan's carnivorousness is matched by few. Bloomberg reported that Japanese beef imports are expected to hit a 17-year high this year following a 10-percent jump last year. That's despite higher beef costs prompted by the retirement of older ranchers and diminishing cattle stocks as well as skyrocketing prices for premium Wagyu beef brought on by foreign demand.
Instead, Japanese consumers are looking to cheaper -- and less fatty -- beef from the U.S. and Australia, though the U.S. risks losing out on that market after President Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership last year.
But in the meantime, as Global Meat News noted, Meat Day endures, visible every 29th day of the month on restaurant menus, grocery specials boards and even meat-heavy grade-school menus.
The practice has already spread abroad. In London, according to the city's Japan Society, Japanese ex-pat Shingo Watanabe co-founded the London Meat Festival in 2011, with menus including everything from Korean barbecue to whole lamb.
On Thursday, Niku No Hi, which literally translates to "Day of the Meat," comes to Deep Ellum. Niwa's celebration will feature a $29 niku platter (for two or more) with a bevy of beef steak cuts like ribeye, New York, short rib, hanger and sirloin, along with $2.90 small-plate and drink specials like shrimp, edamame and Sapporo beer.
"We figured that something we could really offer was a meat platter," Niwa says. "We think there's a lot of people who aren't sure what to order, so this is a way to say, 'We're going to give it all to you.' "
The special runs from 4 to 10 p.m. Reservations are recommended.
