Kobe beef

[2]: 209  Until about the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, they were used only as draught animals, in agriculture, forestry, mining and for transport, and as a source of fertiliser.

[3]: 2 [4][5] Japan was effectively isolated from the rest of the world from 1635 until 1854; there was no possibility of intromission of foreign genes to the cattle population during this time.

From 1919, the various heterogeneous regional populations that resulted from this brief period of cross-breeding were registered and selected as "Improved Japanese Cattle".

Four separate strains were characterised, based mainly on which type of foreign cattle had most influenced the hybrids, and were recognised as breeds in 1944.

[10] In 2009, the USDA placed a ban on the import of all Japanese beef to prevent the Japan foot-and-mouth outbreak from reaching US shores.

[6] In Japan, all cattle, including those approved as Kobe beef, can be tracked via a 10-digit number through every step of their entire life cycle.

[27] It may have more appeal to Western palates unfamiliar with the mild taste and high fat content of true Kobe beef.