What Is High Quality Japanese Wagyu Beef?

Wagyu is totally different from Japanese beef. Wagyu is the name given to only those breeds of beef in Japan that meet certain requirements and are limited to only four breeds. All of these must be purebred cattle, and the continuous improvement of the breed for eating meat has made it popular both domestically and internationally.

JAPANESE BLACK

Japanese Black is bred all over Japan and boasts the number one breeding population of approximately 1.6 million head. As its name suggests, it has black hair, but the ends of the hair are brownish, giving it a blackish-brown look. It is not an overstatement to say that all of the famous Wagyu brands that everyone has heard of, such as Matsusaka beef, Kobe beef, Maezawa beef, Tajima beef, and Ohmi beef, which are representative of Japanese Wagyu, are of the Japanese Black breed!

Marbled meat

One of the characteristics of Japanese black beef is beautifully marbled meat.

The secret of beautiful marbling only in Japanese black meat is due to three reasons: good pedigree, breeding methods, and the fact that the meat is fundamentally fatty. Only Japanese Black Wagyu has these three conditions, and the way of marbling is completely different between Japanese Black Wagyu and other beef, and no other cattle can be as beautiful in marbling as Japanese Black Wagyu.
Therefore, the meat quality of Japanese Black is considered higher quality than that of other breeds of beef, and it is highly regarded both domestically and internationally.

JAPANESE BROWN

Japanese Brown is the second most widely bred breed in Japan after Japanese Black. They are yellowish-brown and have horns.

Its meat quality is slightly inferior to that of Japanese Black, but it has a gentle character and is easy to raise. It is popular among health-conscious people because of its lean meat.

JAPANESE　SHORTHORN

Japanese Shorthorns are the third most commonly bred breed in Japan. They are bred mainly in the Tohoku and Hokkaido regions because of their cold hardiness.

Because they are hardy and easy to grow, they are often raised on pasture, which is a low-cost way of raising cattle, and as a result, they are characterized by their lean and slightly coarse meat.

JAPANESE　POLL

Japanese Poll is the smallest number of Wagyu cattle bred in Japan. It is completely hornless and looks even darker than the Japanese Black.

Its popularity has been increasing again as a healthy Wagyu beef with a lot of lean meat due to the recent resurgence of the health boom, although its breeding numbers once decreased due to the marbled meat boom. It is larger and grows faster than Japanese Black, but its meat is coarser and its flavor is said to be inferior to that of Japanese Black.