The History of Wagyu: From Rice Fields to the World's Most Prized Beef
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Wagyu is now famous all over the world. But for most of its history, Japanese cattle were not eaten at all. They pulled ploughs. Here is how a working animal became the most prized beef on earth.
Around the 2nd century: cattle arrive in Japan
Cattle reached Japan from mainland Asia around the 2nd century AD, at about the same time as rice farming. For many centuries they were working animals: they ploughed rice fields, carried loads and worked in forestry and mining.
675 onwards: a long ban on eating meat
In 675, an imperial order banned eating cattle and several other animals. Buddhist ideas and the value of cattle as workers kept beef off the table for well over a thousand years. It is often said that because cattle were bred for strength and stamina rather than size, they stored energy-rich fat inside the muscle, and that this laid the ground for Wagyu marbling.
Isolation shaped the breed
Japan's mountains kept farming regions apart. Cattle in each valley were bred within their own small herds. This created distinct local lines. The most famous is Tajima, from northern Hyogo Prefecture, a line recorded for centuries and the ancestor of Kobe beef.
1868 to 1872: the Meiji era and the end of the ban
The Meiji Restoration in 1868 opened Japan to the West. Foreign traders in port cities such as Kobe wanted beef and found the local cattle delicious. In 1872, Emperor Meiji ate beef in public, ending the taboo. Beef dishes such as gyunabe (beef hotpot, the ancestor of sukiyaki) became fashionable.
1868 to 1910: crossbreeding
To make cattle bigger, Japan imported around 2,600 foreign cattle between 1868 and 1887, including Brown Swiss, Shorthorn, Devon, Simmental and Ayrshire. Crossbreeding spread from about 1900. But the crosses were larger with worse meat and working ability, so crossbreeding stopped in 1910. From then on, Japan improved its cattle from within.
1944: the four Wagyu breeds
The different regional types were studied and formally recognised as breeds in 1944: Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Polled and Japanese Shorthorn. These four are still the only breeds that count as Wagyu. Read more in What is Wagyu?
After the war: from worker to beef animal
As tractors replaced cattle on farms after the Second World War, breeders turned fully to beef. They selected for marbling and flavour, and farmers developed the long, slow feeding that Wagyu is known for.
1966 onwards: the "Wagyu Olympics"
Since 1966 Japan has held a national Wagyu competition, the Zenkoku Wagyu Noryoku Kyoshinkai, known as the "Wagyu Olympics". It now takes place every five years. In 2022, Kagoshima Prefecture had the highest overall team score, as it did in 2017, while Miyazaki took a Prime Minister's prize. The next event is in Hokkaido in 2027.
1983: Kobe beef gets rules
The Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association formed in 1983 to define and protect the Kobe name. Only Tajima-line cattle born and raised in Hyogo that pass strict tests can be called Kobe. See Kobe beef vs Wagyu.
1976 to 1990s: genetics leave Japan
A small number of Wagyu cattle were exported to the USA in 1976, and more Wagyu cattle and genetics left Japan in the 1990s. These animals founded the American and Australian wagyu industries. Japan later banned the export of Wagyu genetics.
1988: modern grading
The Japan Meat Grading Association's beef carcass grading standard, with its A to C yield grades and 1 to 5 quality grades, dates from 1988. The marbling standard has since been updated with photo-based references. See grading explained.
2001 to 2003: BSE and full traceability
After BSE was found in Japan in 2001, Japan created one of the world's strictest traceability systems. From 2003, every cow in Japan carries a 10-digit ID number, and its birth date, breed, mother and every farm it lived on are recorded on a public database run by the National Livestock Breeding Center.
2007: the Japanese Wagyu mark
To set Japanese Wagyu apart from wagyu raised elsewhere, the Japan Livestock Industry Association introduced a unified Wagyu logo in 2007. It was redesigned in 2017 to put the word "Japan" front and centre.
2014: Japanese Wagyu reaches the UK
The EU had blocked Japanese beef since the 2001 BSE outbreak. After the ban was lifted, the first approved processing plants, in Gunma and Kagoshima, began exporting to Europe in June 2014, and authentic Japanese Wagyu went on sale in the UK that summer. Before then, any "Wagyu" sold in the UK came from outside Japan.
2020: Wagyu genetics protected by law
After attempts to smuggle Wagyu embryos and semen abroad, Japan passed a law in 2020 that treats Wagyu genetics as valuable property and allows penalties for unauthorised trading and export.
Today
Japan now has more than 300 regional beef brands, from Kobe and Matsusaka to Miyazaki and Kagoshima. Japanese Wagyu is exported worldwide, and the UK has a small but growing number of specialist importers. We are proud to be part of that story.
