Wagyu
[2] It features marbling, meaning that streaks of fat exist within the red meat that make it tender and moist, while adding flavor.
Since 2007, only four breeds of kairyō wagyū and their crossbreds, as well as cattle born, raised, and duly registered in Japan, have been allowed to be labeled as Wagyu.
In addition, projectile points made from polished wild cattle bones have been found at the same site, although in small quantities, suggesting that humans existed during this period and that Hanaizumi Moriushi and aurochs were hunted.
[9] At the Ohama Site in Goto City, Nagasaki Prefecture, cattle teeth dating to the middle Yayoi period were excavated.
However, this excavation was controversial because it contradicted the statement in Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms (Wajinden) that there were no cattle or horses in Japan.
At the Nango-Ōhigashi site in Gose City, Nara Prefecture, excavations revealed cow bones believed to date back to the 5th century.
At the Funamiya Kofun Tumulus (late 5th century) in Asago City, Hyōgo Prefecture, pieces of a cow-shaped haniwa (clay figurine), believed to be the oldest in Japan, have been excavated.
1 Tumulus in Tawaramoto Town, Shiki-gun, Nara Prefecture in the first half of the 6th century, and was designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan in 1958.
[16] It has been detected in many extinct European aurochs, but has only been found in a total of three current livestock cattle—one Chinese and two Korean—out of several thousand individuals in the database.
[16] Fossils of Hanaizumi Moriushi and Aurochs have been found in Iwate Prefecture, but it is unclear if the Nanbu cattle were related to these.
Cattle were brought to Japan from the Korean Peninsula or China, but archaeological and genetic studies have proposed different dates for their arrival, ranging from around the turn of the era to the 5th century.
However, a study of human excrement excavated from the Heijo Palace site has revealed that Japanese people in the Nara period (710–794) continued to eat cattle even after the prohibition.
[17] In addition, the Yoro Code (757) stipulates that when a government-owned horse and ox die, it should be dismembered and the skin, brain, horns, and gall bladder removed, and if there is calculus bovis (gallstones), it should be delivered to the state.
[18] The Yoro Code also includes provisions for the sale of the hides and meat of horses and cattle, and there were distribution channels throughout Japan for buying and selling these items during the Nara period.
[20] Until about the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, cattle were used only as draught animals, in agriculture, forestry, mining and transport, and as a source of fertilizer.
[1]: 2 Japan was effectively isolated from the rest of the world from 1635 until 1854; there was no possibility of the intromission of foreign genes to the cattle population during this time.
[22] On the other hand, there are those who are concerned about the current situation in which only the Tajima cattle line represented by the Tajiri-go is spreading and genetic diversity is being lost from Wagyu, and the movement to revive the Takenotani tsuru has been attracting attention in recent years.
In 1868, Englishman Edward Charles Kirby established the first slaughterhouse in Kobe, and in 1869, a sukiyaki restaurant called "Gekka-tei" opened there.
[28] At the same time, however, it was also believed that Wagyu were superior to Western breeds for plowing use but inferior in milk and meat production, and their improvement was urgently needed.
The Ayrshire and Simmental breeds were imported first, followed by the Brown Swiss, but few people wanted to crossbreed with them because of their large size, and the Japanese government encouraged it, but the crossbreds were very unpopular.
[30] The crossbreds' oversized stature made them inconvenient for Japan's narrow arable land, and their movements were slow and sluggish, and their temperaments were rough and lacking in obedience.
[33] At that time, Mendel's laws had just been rediscovered, and both the Japanese government and cattle farmers lacked sufficient knowledge of genetics.
In October 1912, when the 6th Chugoku Six Prefectures United Livestock Breeders' Show was held in Himeji City, Hyōgo Prefecture, two crossbred bulls won first prize as "Improved Japanese Breed" (改良和種, kairyō washu) and the term "Improved Japanese Breed" came into use thereafter.
Specifically, the elimination of sudare (tiger stripes), nori-kuchi (grayish-white lips), unagi-sen (different fur color on the dorsal line), white spots, etc.
Nine breeds were registered: Tajima, Bisaku, Hiroshima, Bocho, Shimane, Inhaku, Bungo, Kumamoto, and Kagoshima.
The degree of marbling varies depending on sex, castration, and fattening method, but in the case of the Japanese Black, genes are thought to play a major role.
Therefore, the fat melts at body temperature as soon as it is put in the mouth, and this is thought to be one of the main reasons for the tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture that is unique to Wagyu beef.
[citation needed] Wagyu bred in Western Australia's Margaret River region often have red wine added to their feed as well.
Meat from this cross-breed may be marketed as "American-Style Kobe Beef",[78] or "Wangus",[79] although many American retailers simply (inaccurately) refer to it as Wagyu.
Wagyu style cattle and farms in Canada are located in Alberta,[82] Saskatchewan,[83] Ontario,[84] Quebec,[85] British Columbia,[86] Prince Edward Island,[87] and Newfoundland and Labrador.
