Net users reflect on the island prefecture’s status as a top world consumer of Spam.

Spam, the American brand of canned pork and ham, has been around since 1937. Once a staple of the World War II-era American military diet, the product subsequently made inroads in occupied areas of the Pacific, where it became integrated into local cuisines as well. Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that Spam continues to have a big presence–and is even considered a delicacy–in many regions today, including the Okinawa islands.

▼ Okinawa is known for evoking romantic images of blue skies, crystal-clear waters, and canned pork products.

We’ve often covered Okinawa’s love of Spam, especially in the wide variety of Spam-based rice balls found ubiquitously throughout the islands. Curiously, this past week, a post on Twitter detailing the popularity of the product in Japan’s southernmost prefecture served to reignite the flames of Spam passion:

▼ “I can only laugh that Okinawa’s Spam consumption is third in the world. It’s crazy that it’s not even the country of Japan but Okinawa Prefecture. First place is the U.S., second place is the UK, and third place is Okinawa Prefecture. I want to be prouder moving forward.”

Unfortunately, the post references data shared on an episode of Japan’s Uwasa no! Tokyo Magazine talk show from May 2004, so the world rankings have likely shifted in the past 21 years. For instance, Spam’s official website currently shares that “Hawaii eats seven million cans of Spam products every year” and “Guam residents consume an annual average of 16 cans per person.” Plus, South Korea is a huge consumer, with Spam added as a staple ingredient to many types of jjigae stews.

Regardless of exact world rankings, net user comments on the Twitter post took the opportunity to reflect on the ongoing popularity of Spam in Okinawa:

“On the Japanese mainland you can usually only find it in Family Mart’s best-selling onigiri, but it’s everywhere in Okinawan convenience stores.”
“Let’s sell more sata andagi (an Okinawan specialty of deep-fried balls of dough) with Spam inside and overtake the world rankings!”
“I kind of remember that Spam and other pork products are less expensive in Okinawa.”
“I wonder how much of its sales can be attributed to visitors buying it as souvenirs or to people affiliated with the U.S. military bases. Consumption doesn’t necessarily mean that the locals are eating it.”
“Seriously though, the Spam musubi they sell in Okinawa are delicious.”

Okinawa in general is home to a wide variety of local dishes that aren’t always easily found on the mainland, so we encourage you to sample as many of them as possible during your next trip to the islands–even if that means you have to Spam yourself with reminders of all of the possibilities.

Source: Rakuten Blog via Hachima Kiko, SPAM
All images © SoraNews24
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