History of Kobe Beef

Kobe Beef is a form of wagyu (which literally means “Japanese cow”) that comes from the Japanese Black cattle breed. There are four types of wagyu in total, each from a different breed of cattle. Wagyu, in general, is known for its top tier marbling and fat quality. Instead of having hunks of fat in certain areas of the meat like most beef, wagyu has tiny bits of fat equally dispersed throughout the meat – giving it a nice pink color. Since Kobe is a trademarked brand, no beef can technically be called “Kobe” unless it was born, raised, and slaughtered in Japan’s Hyogo region.

Kobe usually ranks at about a 10 on the Japanese “Beef Marbling Standard”, where 12 is the highest and USDA Prime hits a measly 4 on its best day (poor American cow, let’s hope it’s at least rich or reallyyy funny). After getting filtered through Japan’s rigorous meat grading rules (read up on it here; spoiler alert – there’s a nail-biting segment on superior bull semen), a whopping 77 Americans actually get to taste this tapestry of fatty tenderness each year.

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