Layer 1 · 品種breed
What is Wagyu?
In Japan, 和牛 (wagyu) refers to four native beef breeds. It is a statement about breed. It says nothing about the region, the brand or the grade.
The four breeds
| Breed (working English label) | Origin, as the books describe it | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese Black黒毛和種 | Draft and beef cattle of the Chugoku and Kinki regions, later crossed with some foreign breeds. [Handbook 2021] [Yamamoto 2017] | Over 90% of Japanese beef cattle. Marbles readily, with fine texture and a cream-coloured, slightly sticky fat. [Handbook 2021] [Yamamoto 2017] |
| Japanese Brown褐毛和種 | Two lines. The Kumamoto line was crossed with Devon and, from 1907, with Simmental bulls. The Kochi line shows strong Korean-cattle influence. [Handbook 2021] | Suited to grazing and grows well on roughage. Balances red meat and marbling. [Yamamoto 2017] |
| Japanese Shorthorn日本短角種 | Nambu cattle of Iwate crossed with Shorthorn, which arrived around 1871. Fixed as a breed only in 1957, making it the youngest of the four. [Handbook 2021] | Lean and muscular, raised mainly in Tohoku and Hokkaido, often grazed. Its flavour changes markedly with dry aging. [Yamamoto 2017] |
| Japanese Polled無角和種 | Yamaguchi native cattle crossed with Aberdeen Angus from 1920. Recognized as a breed in 1944. [Handbook 2021] | Hornless and fast-growing, but marbles poorly. Now rare. [Handbook 2021] [Yamamoto 2017] |
Japanese Black makes up over 90% of Japan's beef cattle, and the other three breeds together less than 2%. When people say "Wagyu" they almost always mean Japanese Black. [Yamamoto 2017]
国産牛“domestic beef” is not Wagyu
A Japanese meat counter labelled 国産牛 (kokusan-gyū, "domestic beef") usually holds Holstein, a dairy breed, or an F1 cross of a Holstein cow and a Japanese Black bull. It is raised in Japan, but it is not Wagyu. [Yamamoto 2017]
The brand directory makes the same point from another side. Its listings include many brands built on F1 crosses or Holsteins, alongside Japanese Black brands. [Handbook 2021]
"Wagyu" outside Japan
Japanese Black cattle are also raised outside Japan. Mark Schatzker describes a grass-fed, full-blood Japanese Black herd on an island in Washington State whose rib steak impressed him more than USDA Prime. [Schatzker]
Our four books do not cover how other countries define or label "Wagyu". This site does not try to fill that gap.
What decides how beef tastes
Yamamoto sums up eating quality as breed × feed × rearing, and the way the meat is aged comes on top of that. [Yamamoto 2017]
- Feed: Concentrate feed (grain) builds marbling, and roughage (grass) leads to leaner meat. Grass rich in beta-carotene can tint the fat yellow. [Yamamoto 2017]
- Rearing: Most Japanese cattle spend nearly their whole lives in barns. Shorthorn and Brown cattle are often grazed on mountain pasture in summer and housed in winter, a pattern called 夏山冬里. [Yamamoto 2017]
- Time: Wagyu are typically finished at 25–30 months, and some Japanese Black go past 40 months. Yamamoto contrasts this with about 20 months in US feedlots and with older cows prized in France. [Yamamoto 2017]
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