Niku Meikannikumeikan.jp Japan's regional beef, jidori chicken and pork brands — what each one legally is, with sources
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Corrections

This is the record of errors found on this site and how they were fixed. For each one we keep the date, the page, what was changed and the basis, and we do not delete entries. If you find an error, please write to info@nikumeikan.jp.

Last updated: 12 November 2026

4 November 2026

  • Title of the compare page (/en/compare/): the wording could be read as "164 brands besides the three named". The count wording was fixed.

19 October 2026

  • Opening sentence of brand pages (12 places across the three languages): item names were repeated, e.g. "rearing period — A rearing period of…". When the source text begins with the item name, the leading item name is now dropped.

12 October 2026

  • Chita Beef "Hibiki": the source title still read "definition of Chita Wagyu 'Homare'". The source itself (the official site of the Chita beef cattle group) defines both Hibiki and Homare and matches the requirements shown, so the title was corrected to cover both.
  • Koshu Beef: the region was shown as "not set" while the breadcrumb says Yamanashi, which looked contradictory. After rereading the Yamanashi Prefecture FAQ and confirming that "in the rich nature of Yamanashi" is descriptive, not a place requirement, a note explaining this was added (the requirement itself was not changed).
  • Descriptions (66 pages): the apostrophe was escaped twice and shown as "'". It is now escaped once.
  • Traditional Chinese edition: duplicated titles such as "天草大王 (天草大王)", leftover Japanese explanatory text after two managing-body names, the term 「名乗條件」 and the UI word 「格付」 were corrected.

30 September 2026: 82 non-GI beef brands checked against their sources

The sources of 82 brands were reopened and checked for age, grade, sex and breed. The corrections were:

  • Iyo Beef "Kinu no Aji": grade "quality grade 4 or higher" → "grade 2 or higher". Grade 4 and above is the condition of the upper tier "Black Label" (basis: JA Ochiimabari, "quality grade 2 or higher"). Black Label is now shown as a separate upper tier.
  • Yamagata Beef: minimum grade 4 → 3 (grade 3 is treated the same when the conditions are met).
  • Chiya Beef: the yield grade condition "A" or "B" was added.
  • Oita Bungo Beef and Oita Wagyu: sex "heifers and steers" → "heifers and males". The source says only "for females, limited to those that have not calved"; the word "steer" does not appear.
  • Mikawa Beef: breed "Japanese Black" → "Wagyu (no breed specified)". The text says only "brand Wagyu"; "Japanese Black" appeared only in hidden page metadata.
  • Tsuyama Wagyu: breed "Japanese Black" → "Wagyu". The age rule is "28 months or older, or a fattening period of roughly 18 months or more", either of which is enough, so it is no longer counted as a numeric minimum and is shown as text.
  • Okuizumo Wagyu: "fattened to about 28 months" is a description qualified by "about", so it was moved from the age requirement to a note.
  • Akita Yuri Beef: "kept for 20 months or more" applies only to calves brought in from other areas, so it is no longer counted as a numeric requirement and is kept as text.
  • Shikaoi Beef: breed "Holstein" → "dairy breed". The source says "dairy bull calves (including crossbreds)".
  • Tosa Wagyu: "(Kochi strain)" was removed from the breed note; the source says "Japanese Brown and Japanese Black".
  • Tosa Rouge Beef: the breed note was aligned with the source wording.

28–30 September 2026: Tosa Akaushi

  • Tosa Akaushi: "28 months or older" and "TRB standard (R5, R4)" had been shown, but these are the standards of the upper brand Tosa Rouge Beef, not of Tosa Akaushi as a whole. Tosa Akaushi now shows "Japanese Brown, Kochi strain, from Kochi Prefecture", and Tosa Rouge Beef was added as its own page (basis: Kochi Prefecture's pages on Tosa Akaushi and Tosa Rouge Beef).

28 September 2026: sex requirements and weaker sources

  • Oita Wagyu: sex had been "not set", but the definition assumes "for females, limited to those that have not calved". The sex requirement was added (further corrected to "males" on 30 September; see above).
  • Niigata Wagyu (Murakami Beef): the source was replaced, from a Murakami City school-lunch leaflet to the definition page of the Niigata Prefecture livestock association (secretariat of the Niigata Wagyu council). The requirements inherited from Niigata Wagyu were added: sex (steers or heifers), pedigree, longest place of rearing and individual identification.
  • Fukushima Beef: grade had been "not set", but the promotion council defines grades 2–3 as "Fukushima Beef" and grades 4–5 as "Branded Fukushima Beef". This was corrected using the council's definition, with a note on how the prefecture's page words it differently.
  • Tochigi Wagyu: the source was changed from a sales catalogue to the association's brand page, and JA Zen-Noh Tochigi's certification condition "cattle fed rice" was added.
  • Takachiho Beef: "integrated local production from calf to finishing" was added to the region, with a note that the regional collective trademark's designated goods are narrower than the shop page's wording.

25 September 2026: seven GI chicken brands checked against their specifications

On the day the seven chicken brands were published, their Ministry of Agriculture specifications were checked clause by clause against the original text, and all seven were corrected.

  • Okukuji Shamo Chicken: region corrected to "Daigo Town, Kuji District". Exceptions in the feed rules and the counting rule "accumulated from hatching" were added.
  • Tokyo Shamo: "improved Shamo" → the original "bred by selective breeding". Feed requirements were added.
  • Hakata Jidori: the exception to the 75-day rule was corrected to the original wording; feed requirements and the requirement that chicks conform to the JAS standard were added.
  • Kawamata Shamo: 7 birds per m² is the density in the adult house (from 28 days of age), not for the whole period. A missing generation in the cross was added.
  • Awaodori: "shipped at 75 days or older" → the original "rearing period of 75 days or more". Feed requirements and the restriction on the chick supplier were added.
  • CHOSYU KUROKASHIWA: the cross is now given as four breeds in order of production; feed text from the "reasons" section was removed from the requirements.
  • Aizu Jidori: "shipped at 90–170 days" → the original "fattening period of 90 to 170 days". The housing wording was split into its two clauses, and the absence of a feed requirement was confirmed.