Protected local food
Maesawa Beef
前沢牛
Wagyu from the Maesawa area of Oshu in Iwate, with fine marbling and moist meat that seems to melt. It has won the top national carcass award six times, more than any other area.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 3 March 2017
- Region
- Tohoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 前沢牛
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 岩手県奥州市前沢区
What makes it special
The marbling is fine and even, the meat is moist, and the fat is light with a good aroma, so the beef seems to melt in the mouth. At Japan's national beef carcass show it has taken the top honour, the Minister of Agriculture's prize, six times in all, more than any other area.
How a rice town made famous beef
Maesawa in Iwate has plenty of snowmelt water and grows good rice, so clean rice straw for feed is easy to get. Fattening cattle here started in the 1960s and 70s, when skills were still basic. The whole area trained together, and Maesawa Beef became known as the champion of the east.
Good to know
- Maesawa is in Oshu, near Hiraizumi, so a beef lunch fits a day trip to Hiraizumi's temples.
- Other Wagyu to compare: Kobe Beef and Kagoshima Wagyu.
Questions travellers ask
Where is Maesawa Beef from?
The Maesawa area of Oshu City in Iwate Prefecture, in the Tohoku region.
Why is it called the champion of the east?
It has won Japan's top national carcass award more often than any other area, and it comes from eastern Japan.
Where it comes from
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.