41 Are rabbits counted as birds because eating meat was taboo in japan? (About the History of Meat "Bans" & the Counter -wa))

<p>On this episode of <em>Ichimon Japan</em> we ask: Are rabbits counted as birds because eating meat was taboo in Japan?</p> <h2 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Topics Discussed<br /></strong></h2> <ul> <li>The practice of counting rabbits as if they were birds in Japanese</li> <li>Whether Japanese people eat meat</li> <li>What exactly qualifies as meat</li> <li>The history of meats "bans" in Japan</li> <li>The hypocritical and dubious nature of meat "bans" in Japan</li> <li>What the earliest written Japanese records say about meat consumption in Japan</li> <li>The influence Buddhism had on the practice of eating meat in early Japanese history</li> <li>The declaration by Emperor Tenmu in April of 675 AD that prohibited people from eating meat in Japan</li> <li>How the consumption of wild game was tacitly permitted throughout much of Japanese history</li> <li>A description of a Heian era feast involving bear paws and rabbit spleens</li> <li>Possible penalties faced by those who ate meet</li> <li>Having to fast for eating meat</li> <li>The arrival of the Portuguese in Japan and the hard time they supposedly had adjusting to the Japanese diet</li> <li>The Tokugawa's promotion of Buddhist culture and ideas</li> <li>Meat bans and meat eating during the Edo Period</li> <li>Shops in Edo that sold the meat of wild game</li> <li>The discrimination faced by people who slaughtered animals and tanned hides</li> <li>Consuming meat for medicinal purposes</li> <li>How meat consumption was looked at in a much more positive light during the Meiji Period</li> <li>An incident in 1872 in which Buddhist priests broke into the Imperial Palace due to opposing the Emperor's promotion of meat consumption</li> <li>The death of the historical Buddha</li> <li>The counter system in Japanese</li> <li>What the Japanese counter <em>-hiki</em> (匹)is usually used for</li> <li>What the Japanese counter -<em>tō</em> (頭) is usually used for</li> <li>The supposed "correct" way to count rabbits in Japanese</li> <li>Various theories about why -wa,