If you go back to Japan, I highly recommend trying it. It is one of my favourite foods. Horse meat has a nicer flavour than beef, and especially eaten raw it is amazing. Unfortunately horse meat is quite rare where I live (Shizuoka prefecture), so I only usually get to eat it when I'm travelling.

I often wonder where the meat comes from though. Do they use young horses, or old, for instance? Also, the basashi I've had seems like it might be the tenderloin (it is very tender), so I wonder what happens to the rest of the animal. I'd very happily use it in stews if I could get it.