A taste of our grim future at “Extinction Experience Restaurant”

What if livestock become extinct? What if the waste we dump killed animals elsewhere? If forests disappear from the Earth, what then?

If only human beings are left on Earth, will there be any food left to eat?

How often do we think about the Earth in our daily lives? Presently, over 40,000 species become extinct each year. And yet, unless there’s direct threat to our everyday lives, we are reluctant to make changes in our lives.

On April 20th, 2019, a gastronomic event called “Extinction Experience Restaurant” was held at “Kawaii Monster Cafe” in Harajuku. A full-course meal was served, cooked with food from an environmentally destructed future.

This event was held with money raised from crowdfunding site “CAMPFIRE”, totaling 1.74 million yen from 137 supporters. The host of the event was “WoW Kitsunezaru” (meaning “ring-tailed lemur”), who spent one year on planning the project. And it had finally come true. Looking back to the when the funding campaign started, WoW Kitsunezaru said with tears of joy at the event, “It’s been quite the ride this past year.”

“Extinction Experience Restaurant” is our near future where ‘extinction’ and ‘dining’ intersect

“What changes people is experience, not knowledge,” shared the host WoW Kitsunezaru.

Two years ago, WoW Kitsunezaru visited the Republic of Madagascar where lemurs inhabit. He learnt that they were facing environmental destruction, and that his loving animals were in danger of extinction. That experience smashed his sense of values and drove him to take action for the Earth.

Subsequently, he was surprised to see the gap of awareness between people who have interest and those who don’t. WoW Kitsunezaru believed in the power of entertainment, so he came up with this relatively new concept of combining environmental conservation and entertainment into one project.

By intersecting extinction―something no human-beings has ever experienced―and dining―something very close to our living―, the show allowed people to experience environmental destruction as a personally relevant issue rather than someone else’s problem. Each dish that was served thus represented both the diversity of food today and the scarceness of it in the future.

“Extinction Experience Restaurant emphasizes on telling a story instead of taking an academic approach. I want to appeal to people’s emotion by what they will experienced today.”

Chef Kan Morieda explained the concept of the dishes, “I want people to eat and think, ‘This is not the future what I want.’ This way, they’ll feel how extinction and environmental destruction matters to them.”

A journey from present diversity to future extinction

The opening show was a performance that expressed the brilliance of life and the grief of extinction. The venue’s atmosphere was bright and peaceful, showing the diversity of our present world. At this point, the guests were surrounded by a variety of colorful food.

The extinction begins

Next, the main dish “Grilled rare salmon and steamed vegetables, served with driftage” was served. The plate represented our oceans 11 years from now. It focused on marine pollution, which is in a hot topic in the news lately.

Plastic bottles that flow into the sea from the rivers takes 400 years to decompose. They are convenient for humans but only cause trouble for the nature.

This main dish was served with a plastic wine glass on the plate, which was the same glass used for welcome drinks earlier on. In addition, edible shards of plastic made of cooked beets colored the dishes.

The next dish arrived, timed concurrently with an illusion show expressing deforestation. The ingredient used for the dish surprised the people at the event. Named “Hamburger made with the last meat on earth”, the patties were made with unfamiliar animals such as badgers, pheasants and crows. We would supposedly call them “food” by year 2100.

This dish was a valuable dining experience because it made guests wonder: what sort of food will make up our meals by 2100, when the Earth’s environment becomes worse than today’s.

Our destruction complete

In the final stage of the event, the performance appealed to the guests about desperation of environmental destruction. The dessert “The form of solitude” showed how there was nothing left on Earth to eat. Experiencing both the meal and the show gave the crowd a valuable opportunity to think about environmental destruction.

Nature and animals are what keep us alive

WoW Kitsunezaru urged the guests at the venue, “We have killed many animals up until now, and this won’t change in the future. That is irresponsible. Notebooks and detergents are part of our daily lives but how are they manufactured or consumed? We are not sure. The same goes for plastic bags from convenience stores and emptied bottled drinks; we tend to overlook where these wastes end up.”

“Nature and animals are what keep us alive. When we disregard this fact and continue to exploit unilaterally, they will not be the only ones to face extinction. We will too.”

Towards the end of the show, people gathered in front of the stage. “I’ve always dreamt of singing ‘We Are The World’ on stage with endangered animals. I want to send a message that nature, animals and humans are one.” The crowd united by singing together ‘We Are The World’, a song WoW Kitsunezaru put his heart into.

After the song, WoW Kitsunezaru closed the event by saying “I want to sing this again in a better future.”

Not asking for an immediate change, but for small steps that can last

The event urged guests to think. “Can you throw away your lifestyle for the Earth? If your answer is ‘yes’, that commitment probably won’t last long. But how about making a small change to the extent that you can, and continue doing so? Making such a sustainable choice is one way to show your love for the Earth. Change yourself, not someone else. Let’s march together and love nature.”

Prior to the event, we asked WoW Kitsunezaru what he expected the participants to feel at the Extinction Experience Restaurant.

“I’m not asking people to go vegan or to stop using plastic products right after this event. I want to make today an opportunity for people to move forward a little, like choosing a detergent with a certification mark next time they shop or pick up the habit of carrying reusable bags. Then, so as to widen the scope further, I’d like to plan more events in the future―like museums, galleries and planetariums. Today’s event is a catalyst and a starting point.”

Extinction Experience Restaurant is only the first step to what the organizers plan to achieve. Many are likely to make small changes in their daily lives to confront environmental issues after this experience. The catalyst is Extinction Experience Restaurant.

This article was originally published on IDEAS FOR GOOD.
Translated by Chisato Shizume.