Breeds of Kobe and Tajima
The port city that gave its name to Kobe beef, raised from Tajima cattle bred in the hills of northern Hyōgo.
Breeds of this place
Best time: October to November, for autumn colour in the Tajima hills.
Kobe is a port city on the Inland Sea, opened to foreign trade in 1868. Foreign residents there began buying beef from local cattle, and the name Kobe beef followed. The cattle themselves come from Tajima, the mountainous north of Hyōgo Prefecture, where farmers have kept a closed line of black cattle, recorded in herd books, for well over a century.
Tajima cattle
Tajima cattle are a strain of the Japanese Black, small, black and slow-growing, once kept for ploughing and hauling in narrow mountain valleys. Breeders in Tajima have bred within the local line for generations, keeping pedigree records that track each animal's ancestry. To be sold as Kobe beef, meat must come from Tajima cattle born and raised in Hyōgo and must meet set grades for marbling and quality.
Mountain farms
Farms in Tajima are small, often a few cows kept in barns beside the farmhouse, with hay cut from steep meadows. Calves are sold at local markets to fatteners across the prefecture. The cattle-raising system of the Mikata district in northern Hyōgo has been recognised by the Food and Agriculture Organization as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System.
A trail idea for Kobe and Tajima
- Kobe port The waterfront of the city opened to foreign trade in 1868.
- Kitano The hillside district of old foreign merchants' houses.
- Mikata district The mountain home of Tajima cattle in northern Hyōgo.
- Kinosaki Onsen A hot-spring town in Tajima country, near the coast.
Written by the EveryCow desk with AI assistance. Background: "Kobe beef" on Wikipedia. Fair dates, markets and visiting rules change; check locally before travelling, and keep a respectful distance from working animals. If something is wrong, tell us.
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