Is lamb popular?

Is lamb popular with the Japanese? Are there any popular recipes using lamb?
Thanks!

HY,

The short answer would be no, it is not as popular as other meats such as beef, pork, or chicken, and is not always available at smaller supermarkets.
It is not normally used in Japanese cooking, although "Ghengis Khan" (lamb barbecued at your table) is popular especially in Hokkaido.

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A Japanese friend came to stay at my house (in New Zealand, where lamb is very popular), and my mother decided to cook roast lamb; he took a bite and decided it tasted like beef :S.

My mother was not sure whether to be offended or complimented. He said it was his first time eating lamb, though.

I had "Ghengis Khan" in Hokkaido. It was very good. I would definately recommend it.

You can buy lamb in Japan (in Yokohama, anyway), but it is not common, and it is expensive.
Three small lamb cutlets with bone can cost 1000yen.

Lamb DOES NOT taste like beef, and some people have problems with its strong smell and flavour. In Australia and New Zealand, where the lamb eaten is very young, the meat is tender and doesn't smell or taste too strong. Many people who have tried lamb elsewhere (e.g. USA), the lamb is older, tougher and smells very strong, and is often disliked because of this. They don't know what they're missing!!!!! :D

In many countries, they sell Sheep under the name lamb, when in fact most sheep is mutton - the older sheep above 18 months in age.

Lamb should be no more than 18 months when slaughtered, sheep is traditionally 19-30 months and mutton is an animal anywhere between 24 and 36 months.

Lamb has practically no real smell, but can be strongly flavoured near the bone. The fat tends to go crispy and melt off - but is paper thin when cooked properly.

I had lamb a few times while in Tokyo last year - once at a bbq place where we cooked at our table - it was the real thing - tender, sweet and young. The two other places it was nice, but a little tougher - I think it was most likely sheep and not lamb.

In Australia or New Zealand, lamb is the young animal and never the adult animal. The taste is so different that it is important in countries that do not regulate the age of the animal, to ask your butcher or chef how old the animal was. Most know this information :)