Japanese Black
黒毛和種
(most common name)
(local/other name):
• Kuroge Washu
The Japanese Black is a derived breed with European blood. The coat color is dull brown to blackish. Despite their history of crossbreeding, the Japanese Black is still a Turano-Mongolian type with a compact well-developed body, short neck, and fine legs.
Before continuing, please read the following language lesson for the use of the word ‘wagyu’:
• Nippon = Japan
• Nipponese = Japanese
• ushi = cow
• wa = of, in reference to (The word ‘wa’ is an abstract that cannot be directly translated into English; generally, ‘wa’ is a transition word used to connect phrases, words or ideas.)
• shu = species
• washu = of, in reference to species
• kuro = black
• gyu = cattle
• wagyu = of, in reference to cattle (how the Japanese refer to their cattle in general)
‘Wagyu’, as a singular breed name, is used only outside of Japan and refers to cattle that have originated from physical exports and sperm of the Japanese Black and Japanese Brown; they can be purebreds, but they are not full bloods.
The history of the Japanese Black is as follows:
• 1868 - Importation begins of several West European breeds – Devon, Beef Shorthorn, Jersey, Guernsey. This starts a haphazard upgrading of most Japanese cattle.
• 1871 - Emperor Meiji legalizes the profession of butcher/leather worker.
• 1882 - Emperor Meiji withdraws an act which had banned the consumption of meat.
• 1898 - A herdbook is established for cattle in the Tajima Province.
• 1900 - The government initiates planned crossbreeding of selected Japanese cattle with Devon, Beef Shorthorn, and Swiss Brown bulls. The F1 and F2 offspring of the native Japanese cows are bred ‘inter se’ (i.e. with each other). [see Crossbreeding Example below] This type of crossing is then continued across the population with Simmental, Brown Swiss and Ayrshire also added into the mix.
• 1911 - Crossbreeding with Devon, Swiss Brown and Brown Swiss is discontinued in the Hyogo prefecture where the Tajima strain is located.
• 1912 - The crossbred cattle destined to be the Japanese Black are being called Nipponese Improved (also called: Japanese Improved, Kairyo-Washu, Kairyō, 改良).
• 1918 - Government registration begins for Nipponese Improved cattle.
• 1919 - The Nipponese Improved is officially recognized.
• 1921 - A standard body type for the Nipponese Improved is achieved.
• 1944 - The breed name Nipponese Improved is discontinued and the Japanese Black is officially recognized.
• 1950 - Japanese Black males, which until this time were only used for work and bullfighting, are starting to be selected for their beef qualities.
• 1980 - The Japanese Black develops local subpopulations (i.e. production types) established within various prefectures (i.e. districts). The most consistent are:
•• Hyogo prefecture - carcass quality (strain: Tajima)
•• Tottori prefecture - larger body size (from crossing with Brown Swiss)
•• Shimane prefecture - carcass quality and larger body size (from crossing with Devon)
• 1999 - The Japanese Black accounts for 93% of all beef cattle in Japan.
2012 - All current Tajima cattle are found to be descendants of a single bull named ‘Tajiri’ (1939–1958); a National Wagyu Registry Association survey finds that 9% of Japanese Black breeding female cattle are descendants of ‘Tajiri’.
Strains of Japanese Black include:
• Hyogo
• Shimane
• Tsuru - pre-crossbreeding strain since Edo era (1600–1876)
Production Methods
A lot of fuss has been made in articles and reference books about beer and massage being used for the Japanese Black. As of 2017, the internet now provides many websites (with pictures) perpetuating this as being either a fun/promotional story or factual. Here are examples from two brands:
• Matsusaka beef
“When a cow has no appetite, there are farmers who have them drink beer to improve appetite and massage them with soju [a Korean alcoholic drink] in order to soften meat quality.” (city.matsusaka.mie.jp)
“The cows are fed beer to increase their appetites and raised with intense care, sometimes even receiving individual massages.” (jnto.go.jp)
• Ozaki beef
“The feed for the cattle is mixed every morning and evening during an extremely labour-intensive process lasting two hours. It comprises 15 kinds of feed, such as grass from the meadow, moist barley mash (a by-product of beer brewing), maize, barley, and so forth, with no preservatives or antibiotics whatsoever.” (wagyu-master.eu)
Facts about the Tajima strain:
• Tajima beef is distributed as: ‘Tajima beef’, ‘Kobe beef’. [Tajima used to be a province in what is now the Hyogo Prefecture in the Kansai Region. The Kansai Region is in southwestern Honshu, the main island of Japan. Kobe is a the capital city in the Hyogo Prefecture. The Kobe Beef Marketing & Distribution Promotion Association is located in Kobe. ‘Kobe’ became the primary name for beef from Tajima cattle because all Kansai beef is distributed through the city of Kobe.]
• Tajima bulls are also used for Matsusaka beef (Mie prefecture) and Omi/Ohmi beef (Shiga prefecture).
• Tajima bulls are also used for upgrading Maezawa beef (Iwate prefecture), Sendai beef (Miyagi prefecture), Hida beef (Gifu prefecture), and Saga beef (Saga prefecture).
Remember:
• Kobe Beef (and most Japanese beef) is the heavily-marbled beef of the Japanese Black.
• ‘Kobe’ is not a cattle breed name in Japan. It is, however, used as a local breed name in the USA.
• In Japan, the word ‘wagyu’ encompasses all the cattle breeds in Japan.
F₁ = ♂︎ or ♀︎ result of a cross between two different breeds
F₂ = ♂︎ or ♀︎ result of a cross between two F₁ individuals
1. Your first cross makes two F₁ calves:
Shorthorn ♂︎ × Japanese Native ♀︎ = SJ ♂︎
(50% of S + 50% of J = 100% F₁)
Devon ♂︎ × Japanese Native ♀︎ = DJ ♀︎
(50% of D + 50% of J = 100% F₁)
2. Your second cross takes the above two F₁ offspring and creates one F₂ offspring:
SJ ♂︎ × DJ ♀︎ = SDJJ ♀︎
(25% of S + 25% of D + 50% of J = 100% F₂)
3. Your third inter se cross then uses the male F₁ and the female F₂. In this case, this increases the Shorthorn percentage without further diluting the percentage of the Japanese Native:
SJ ♂︎ × SDJJ ♀︎ = SSDJJJ ♀︎
(33.3% of S + 16.7% of D + 50% of J = 100% inter se cross)
This page was last updated on: 2023-08-31
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