The Japanese term for the practice of eating raw horse meat is basashi. The dish is generally prepared like sashimi: chilled horse meat is sliced thinly and served raw, often with soy sauce, grated ginger, garlic, onions, or shiso leaves.
Basashi is especially associated with Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu, though it is also eaten in places such as Nagano and parts of northeastern Japan. The word combines ba, meaning horse, with sashi, a shortened form related to sashimi. Its characteristic pink or red color has also led to the nickname sakura niku, or “cherry-blossom meat.”
Basashi is not the same as torisashi, which refers to raw or lightly seared chicken, nor is it fugu, the potentially poisonous pufferfish dish. Shirako is another unrelated delicacy: the milt, or sperm sacs, of fish. Horse meat may also be cooked or grilled in Japan, but those preparations are not specifically called basashi.