Protected local food
Kobe Beef
神戸ビーフ
Kobe Beef is Tajima cattle raised in Hyogo whose meat passes strict grading. It is rare, under 0.2% of the beef eaten in Japan, so check that a restaurant is a registered seller.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 22 December 2015
- Region
- Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 神戸ビーフ
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 兵庫県内
What makes it Kobe Beef
Every Kobe Beef animal is a Tajima cow, a Wagyu line kept for about 1,200 years as work cattle in the mountains of northern Hyogo. The meat must grade A4 or B4 or higher, with a marbling score (BMS) of 6 or more, and the carcass may weigh no more than 499.9 kg. Only steers and heifers that have never calved qualify.
Tajima meat that misses the Kobe grade can still be sold as Tajima Beef, a protected name in its own right.
How to know it's real
Every farm, butcher and restaurant that sells Kobe Beef is registered with the Kobe Beef association. Registered shops display a certificate and a small bronze cow statue. Each animal has an ID number you can look up to see where it was born and raised.
Good to know
- Look for the bronze cow and the certificate at the door. "Wagyu" or "Kobe-style" on a menu is not the same thing.
- Order a small cut first. The marbling is very rich, and 100 to 150 g is plenty for most people.
- Other famous Wagyu to try: Matsusaka Beef in Mie, Omi Beef in Shiga and Yonezawa Beef in Yamagata.
Questions travellers ask
Is all Wagyu Kobe Beef?
No. Wagyu means Japanese cattle breeds. Kobe Beef is a small, strictly graded share of Tajima cattle from Hyogo, under 0.2% of the beef eaten in Japan.
Why is Kobe Beef so expensive?
The Tajima bloodline has been kept pure since the Edo period, the cattle are raised a few months longer than most Wagyu, and only about 7,000 head a year make the grade.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- Ako: the town that made Japan's finest salt
- Awaji: the first island in Japan's creation myth
- Inaba and Tajima: landscapes made by the Sea of Japan wind
- Itami and Nada: the birthplace of Japan's clear sake
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- Tamba-Sasayama: a castle town in a folk song
- The Kanmon Strait: retro ports on both shores
- The Silver Carriage Road: 73 km to Hyogo's mines
- The Six Ancient Kilns: pottery born and raised in Japan
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.
- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries農林水産省Official GI register entry: Kobe Beef(in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
- Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association神戸肉流通推進協議会Kobe Beef rules for registered farms, shops and restaurants(in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
- Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association神戸肉流通推進協議会Kobe Beef questions and answers(in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)