Wagyu fans know that Japanese Wagyu cattle (especially the black-haired breed) have an extraordinarily high level of marbling (intramuscular fat) thanks to their genetics. This article introduces a little-known historical fact that contributed equally, if not more, to the opulent marbling of Japanese Wagyu – free trade.
As part of the “market access” agreement reached with other GATT (predecessor of the WTO) members in the early 1990s, Japan had to open up its domestic market to beef imports from the US, Canada, and Europe. Compared to the industrial scale of cattle production in those countries, Japan’s producers were tiny and could not compete on the price. The entire Japanese beef cattle industry was at the brink of extinction in the face of foreign competition.
The government and trade groups realized that the only way to help Japanese Wagyu farmers to survive is to create something unique that the consumers were willing to pay a higher price for. Because most imported beef was, and still is, lean red meat, Japan decided to focus on producing beef with more fat! Afterall, black-haired Japanese cattle are the breed best known for their marbling potential. To incentivize and reward farmers who can produce beef with this distinctive characteristic, the regulators adopted a grading system that disproportionally focuses on marbling and yield ratio. An animal graded A5 can make thousands of dollars more for the farmer than one on the next level.
Japanese farmers responded to this economic incentive enthusiastically by perfecting their rearing technics to grow ever plumper cattle. Today, an A5 sirloin can contain over 50% marbling. And it is not just the amount of fat – the quality of the fat (higher oleic acid content than any other beef), the even distribution of the fat among red muscles, and the low melting temperature all make Japanese Wagyu the only one of its kind.
Thanks to these historical developments, Japanese Wagyu now commands many times the price of other beef, including wagyu produced in other countries. Both the production and exportation of Japanese Wagyu have grown steadily in recent years.
The story of Japanese Wagyu is a success story of global competition. Take that, trade protectionists!