Seal's Kissing -Murakami radio-

　　　Have you heard of seal oil? It is literally a supplement made from seal fat. The Inuit of the Arctic Circle eat no vegetables and only animal products, yet they have almost no evidence of atherosclerosis. Research has shown that the reason for this lies in the seal meat they eat on a daily basis. The omega-3 fatty acids contained in this meat have the effect of keeping the blood dry, the heart strong and the joints flexible. Seal oil is available in Japan, but is rather expensive, so I bought it locally when I visited Oslo. When I tried to buy a capsule version at a supplement shop, the lady at the cash register told me that it is much more effective to take the oil in its raw form than in capsules. But well, it's a bit smelly. ・・・・・・". I could hear the sound of "maybe foreigners can't do it" there, so I thought, "OK, let's give it a go" challenge accepted and bought the capsules with the oil. Also, one of the reasons was that the oil was much cheaper than the capsules.

In reality, however, it is not a bit smelly'. in fact, It is, without joking, a very strong fishy smell. It smells so bad that when you wake up in the morning, there's a big seal on top of you, and you can't get it off, so they force your mouth open and stick their wet tongue inside, along with their warm, fresh breath. You definitely don't want to go through that, do you? But I have a weird competitive streak in me, and every morning I'd drink a big spoonful of the oil, thinking, 'What the hell'. I'd gulp it down without breathing, then drink a glass of water, but I'd still get the munchies. So I eat something sweet like a cookie without a pause. Otherwise, it's very unbearable. The spoon and the glass also have a strong smell on them, so I have to wash them immediately with detergent.

So, if you ask me if it worked, I can't say for sure that it did. That is the problem with various supplements. You can't fairly compare and contrast the results of taking them with the results of not taking them. And since I don't have any health problems, to begin with, I can't quantify what has improved. But I traveled around a foreign country for a month and a half, eating out a lot, and yet I didn't feel any physical discomfort at all, so it probably had some effect. I have a firm determination that if it doesn't work, I'm not going to be satisfied because I have to put up with taking something that smells so bad every morning, and it seems to have improved my health more than normal.

If I had just taken it in capsules, I probably wouldn't have developed such a strong commitment to the seal oil. When I told this to people in Norway, they all frowned. I remember being forced to drink it as a child. They were impressed: 'How can you drink that stinky stuff?' Incidentally, at the moment, it seems that raw seal oil is not available by mail order. If you are willing to go willingly through the tribulations, or if you want to experience a deep kiss from a seal once, you may have to go to Oslo to buy it. But it stinks, really, no kidding.

Murakami of the Week.

It seems like it would be hard to be French kissed by an anteater. You don't have to bother thinking about that, though.