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Kobe opened its doors to foreign countries as an international port in 1868. This cosmopolitan city where many foreigners immigrated to was an intersection where Japanese tradition and foreign culture met. It was said that at the time meat culture was not established, it was the British who first eat Tajima beef in Kobe for the first time. The flavor of the Tajima-ushi (Tajima cattle) that was used by farmer's for labor. It was as if it were a gift from heave. After that, the demand for cattles from foreign ships entering Kobe seemed to have led to the cattle being called "Kobe Beef".

The secret behind the flavor of Kobe Beef is the so-called "marbling", in which the fine sashi or fat grains melts at very low temperatures into the surrounding muscle. Scientific analysis also reveals that rich inosinic acid and oleic acid, to be the decisive factors for deliciousness.


Source:Kobe Beef Marketing & Distribution Promotion Association

Tajima-ushi which is a breeding cattle originating from the cattle used for agriculture in the mountains of the Tajima district in northern Hyogo Prefecture since about 1200 years ago. In the Meiji era it was recognized a genetically good pedigree of beef cattle. The high-quality meat cattle comes from only the best of prefectural owned bulls from Hyogo prefecture, which have been improved over a long period of time,  and are bred with the same class of Tajima cattle from within the prefecture.

The home of Tajima-ushi is in the mountainous land of the Tajima region located in northern Hyogo prefecture facing the Sea of Japan with few plains. Its origin is old, and you can also see the description of Tajima-ushi in the "Shoku Nihongi", the second of six imperial commissioned Japanese history text written in the early Heian period. Tajima-ushi has a small, tight body and has been heavily used to move farm work and luggage carriages through narrow rice paddy fields. The unique meat quality of Tajima beef is obtained thanks in part to the drastic change in temperatures during the night and day, the areas soft pasture where night dew falls, as well as mineral rich waters.

The Tajima-ushi museum in Tajima Pasture Park introduces the history of Tajima-ushi and the secret of the taste of Tajima Beef.