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About Kobe Beef

Japan’s Modernization and Kobe Beef Under Meiji Restoration.

In 1868, Kobe opened its door to foreign trade as an international port. With many foreigners arriving from abroad and settling there. Kobe soon became a cosmopolitan town, a melting pot of culture and races. At the time, the Japanese did not have a beef eating habit, however, an Englishman was about to change it all.

Historical record shows Tajima gyu cattle was first eaten in Kobe by an Englishman who obtained a draft animal from a local farmer. He must have felt it as a gift from heaven. From then on, foreign ships entering Kobe port started to ask for local cattle, which was soon called Kobe Beef.

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Palatability

Palatability of Kobe beef is characterized by tenderness, juiciness, flavor and savory taste. It mainly owes to inosinic acid heavily deposited in the meat and shjmofuri, a high degree of fat marbling that is high in unsaturated fat containing large amount of oleic acid.

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Tajima Gyu Cattle & Kobe Beef

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Criteria for Kobe Beef

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Dedicated Farmers

The top fattening farmers are interviewed. Through hard work, dedication and determination, they won the biggest carcass competition of the year. Their skills, knowledge and experience all play a part to raise the champion cattle.

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Our Faq

Frequently Asked Questions

Kobe beef refers to meat from Tajima-gyu cows certified by the Kobe Beef Distribution & Promotion Council. Tajima-gyu cows, the “motoushi” or purebred seedstock cattle, have maintained a pure bloodline since the Edo period (1615 to 1867) to the present day. Protecting this lineage has also meant protecting its delicious taste, and this contributes to the high cost of producing this delicacy. Although Kobe beef delights the palates of people around the world, it accounts for a mere 0.16% of total beef consumption in Japan. This scarcity is another factor contributing to its high price.

This is due to the many foreigners who first came and settled in Kobe from the Meiji period (1868 to 1912) onwards after Kobe became the first port to be opened to foreign trade on January 1, 1869. From then on, word of its deliciousness soon spread fast.

Kobe Beef started to be exported to Macao for the first time in February, 2012.

“Sashi” refers to the fatty content of the scarlet-colored muscle fiber. “Sashi” is classified into two types, coarse “sashi” and fine “sashi.” “Shimofuri” refers to the cut of fine texture meat having a high degree of fat marbling. A feature of Tajima-gyu cows is that they possess both fine muscle fiber and a high degree of fat marbling.

Breeding farms rear mother cows to give birth to calves, while feeding farms raise and care for these calves so that their body mass increases and meat quality improves. Both types of farms require specialist skills and knowledge, and some farms, of course, take on both roles.

As well as dried pasture forage and grasses such as rice straw, they are fed a diet of nutrition-rich feed supplements made by blending together soybean, corn, barley, wheat bran, and various other ingredients. They are given no pasture grass at all to eat. Water, too, is very important besides feed. This is the reason why there are many cattle-rearing farms in areas with good, clean water.