Cattle were brought to Japan from China at the same time as the
cultivation of rice, in about the second century AD, in the
Yayoi period. Until about the time of the
Meiji Restoration in 1868, they were used only as
draught animals, in
agriculture,
forestry,
mining and for transport, and as a source of
fertiliser. Milk consumption was unknown, and – for cultural and religious reasons – meat was not eaten. Cattle were highly prized and valuable, too expensive for a poor farmer to buy. Japan was effectively isolated from the rest of the world from 1635 until 1854; there was no possibility of intromission of foreign genes to the cattle population during this time. Between 1868, the year of the Meiji Restoration, and 1887, some foreign cattle were imported. At first there was little interest in cross-breeding these with native stock, but from about 1900 it became widespread. It ceased abruptly in 1910, when it was realised that, while the cross-breeds might be larger and have better dairy qualities, their working capacity and meat quality was lower. From 1919, the various
heterogeneous regional populations that resulted from this brief period of cross-breeding were registered and
selected as "Improved Japanese Cattle". Four separate strains were characterised, based mainly on which type of foreign cattle had most influenced the hybrids, and were recognised as breeds in 1944. These were the four
wagyū breeds, the Japanese Black, the
Japanese Brown, the
Japanese Polled and the
Japanese Shorthorn. The Japanese Black developed in south-western Japan, in the
prefectures of
Kyoto and
Hyogo in the
Kansai region; of
Hiroshima,
Okayama,
Shimane,
Tottori and
Yamaguchi in the
Chūgoku region; of
Kagoshima and
Oita on the island of
Kyūshū; and of
Ehime on the island of
Shikoku. Among the European breeds which influenced its development were
Braunvieh and
Simmental cattle from Switzerland,
Ayrshire,
Devon and
Shorthorn stock from the United Kingdom, and
Friesian cattle from Germany and the Netherlands. In 1960 the total breed population was reported to be over ; in 2008 it was reported as about . In 1999, the Japanese Black constituted approximately of the national beef herd.
Tajima cattle When registration of "Improved Japanese Cattle" began in 1919, there were notable variations between regional populations. It was left up to the prefectural administration to decide breed objectives. As a result, several different strains or sub-types developed with the Japanese Black population. One of these is the Tajima strain (, Tajima Ushi or Tajima-gyu). Meat from animals of this strain only, raised only in
Hyōgo Prefecture, may be approved for marketing as
Kobe beef. == References ==