Where must Japanese brand beef be raised? We counted the region rules of 100 brands

Raised longest in, and finished in, the region (14)

The region must be both where the animal spent the longest time and where it spent its final period.

• Iwate Beef: Raised longest in, and finished in, Iwate Prefecture
• Iwate Tankaku Wagyu: Raised longest in, and finished in, Iwate Prefecture
• Maesawa Beef: Raised longest in, and finished in, Maesawa, Oshu City, Iwate
• Sendai Beef: Raised longest in, and finished in, Miyagi Prefecture
• Kazuno Beef: Raised longest in, and finished in, Kazuno City and Kosaka Town, Akita
• Yamagata Beef: Raised longest in, and finished in, Yamagata Prefecture
• Yonezawa Gyu: Raised longest in, and finished in, Okitama region (Yonezawa, Nan'yo, Nagai, Takahata, Kawanishi, Iide, Shirataka, Oguni)
• Noto Beef: Raised longest in, and finished in, Ishikawa Prefecture
• Minami Shinshu Beef: Raised longest in, and finished in, the Iida–Shimoina area
• Omi Beef: Raised longest in, and finished in, Shiga Prefecture
• Hiba Gyu: Raised longest in, and finished in, Hiroshima Prefecture
• Kumamoto Akaushi: Raised longest in, and finished in, Kumamoto Prefecture
• Kumamoto Kuroge Wagyu: Raised longest in, and finished in, Kumamoto Prefecture
• Kagoshima Wagyu: Raised longest in, and finished in, Kagoshima Prefecture

Raised longest in the region (9)

The region must be where the animal spent the longest time.

• Akita Beef: Raised longest in Akita Prefecture
• Fukushima Beef: Raised longest in Fukushima Prefecture
• Hida Beef: Raised longest in Gifu Prefecture
• Kyoto Beef: Raised longest in Kyoto Prefecture
• Tottori Wagyu Olein 55: Raised longest in Tottori Prefecture
• Shimane Wagyu: Raised longest in Shimane Prefecture
• Jinseki Beef: Raised longest in Jinsekikogen Town
• Hiroshima Beef: Raised longest in Hiroshima Prefecture
• Oita Bungo Beef: Raised longest in Oita Prefecture

Fattened in the region (11)

The animal must be fattened in the region.

• Shihoro Beef: Fattened in Shihoro Town, Hokkaido
• Iga Beef: Fattened in Iga and Nabari
• Kameoka Beef: Fattened in Kameoka City
• Kurodasho Wagyu: Fattened in Kurodasho, Nishiwaki City, Hyogo
• Kobe Beef: Fattened in Hyogo Prefecture
• Tajima Beef: Fattened in Hyogo Prefecture
• Kishu Waka Beef: Fattened in Wakayama Prefecture
• Tottori F1: Fattened in Tottori Prefecture
• Tottori Gyu: Fattened in Tottori Prefecture
• Tottori Wagyu: Fattened in Tottori Prefecture
• Tosa Wagyu: Fattened in Kochi Prefecture

Raised in the region (6)

The animal must be raised in the region.

• Tambasasayama Beef: Raised in Tamba-Sasayama
• Tohaku Wagyu: Raised in Kotoura Town, Tohaku District, Tottori (the former Tohaku Town area)
• Bichu Beef: Raised in the Bihoku area (Takahashi, Kibichuo's former Kayo, Maniwa's former Hokubo)
• Awa Beef: Raised in Tokushima Prefecture
• Sanuki Beef: Raised in Kagawa Prefecture
• Amakusa Kuroushi: Raised in Amakusa City and its surroundings

Other wording (39)

Brands whose wording does not fit the four types above. The wording follows each source.

• Shikaoi Beef: Calves born in Shikaoi and fattened in the town from start to finish
• Shiraoi Beef: Born in Shiraoi and fattened longest in Shiraoi
• Tokachi Wakaushi: Shimizu Town, Hokkaido. Calves from the town brought in by about one month old and raised there until shipment
• Biratori Wagyu: Produced in Biratori and surrounding areas of Hokkaido
• Hakkoda Beef: Grazed for at least 2 months on Aomori City's communal pasture
• Akita Yuri Beef: Raised by members of the JA Akita Shinsei Yuri beef fattening group (calves normally from the Akita livestock market)
• Mitsunashi Beef: Produced in Mitsunashi, Yuzawa City, Akita
• Hitachiwagyu Beef: Raised longest in Ibaraki by designated producers
• Nasu Wagyu: Produced and sold within the JA Nasuno area
• Joshu Beef: Born in Japan, finished in Gunma and raised longest there
• Niigata Wagyu: Fattened in Niigata and raised longest in Niigata
• Murakami Beef: Fattened in Murakami, Sekikawa or Tainai (and, as Niigata Wagyu, fattened in Niigata with Niigata as the longest place of rearing)
• Toyama Wagyu Sake Lees Finished Beef: Raised in Toyama for at least 12 months, longest in Toyama
• Wakasa Beef: Fattened in Fukui for at least 12 months
• Shinshu Premium Beef: A registered farm must be both the final and the longest place of raising
• Enshu Yumesaki Beef: Produced within the JA Enshu Yumesaki area
• Shizuoka Sodachi: Fattened on designated farms in Shizuoka
• Chita Beef Hibiki: Fattened within the area for at least a year
• Chita Wagyu Homare: Fattened within the area for at least a year
• Horai Beef: Fattened on four certified farms in Shinshiro
• Mikawa Beef: Fattened for at least a year on certified farms in Aichi and shipped to one of three meat markets in the prefecture
• Tokusan Matsusaka Ushi: 22 municipalities as defined on 1 November 2004 (Matsusaka, Tsu, Ise, Hisai, Karasu, Ichishi, Hakusan, Ureshino, Misugi, Mikumo, Iinan, Iitaka, Taki, Meiwa, Odai, Seiwa, Miyagawa, Tamaki, Obata, Omiya, Misono, Watarai)
• Matsusaka Ushi: Brought into the Matsusaka production area (22 former municipalities) by 12 months of age and fattened longest and last there
• Kyo no Niku: Production history must be in Kyoto Prefecture
• Awaji Beef: Born on Awaji Island and raised in Hyogo
• Kakogawa Wagyu: Raised for at least 12 months by farms in Kakogawa
• Kumano Beef: Raised in Wakayama for at least half of its age at shipment
• Oki Beef: Born and fattened in the Oki Islands, Shimane
• Okuizumo Wagyu: Fattened at JA Shimane Unnan's own fattening centre and on farms in the district
• Chiya Beef: Bred and fattened in Niimi, or calves from Okayama fattened in Niimi for about 18 months or more
• Tsuyama Wagyu: Born and raised in Tsuyama
• Yamaguchi Wagyu Kirameki: Finished in Yamaguchi, with at least half of its life raised in the prefecture
• Tokushima Mitsuboshi Beef: Producer and farm in Tokushima, using a Tokushima sire or raised in the prefecture for at least a year
• Tosa Akaushi: Produced in Kochi (the beef is sold as Kochi-produced Japanese Brown under the Tosa Wagyu name “Tosa Akaushi”)
• Takachiho Beef: Produced and fattened in the Nishiusuki area, from calf to finishing within the JA Takachiho district
• Miyakonojo Wagyu: Fattened within the JA Miyazaki Miyakonojo district
• Miyazaki Beef: Born in Miyazaki (with exceptions for neighbouring prefectures) and raised longest in Miyazaki
• Miyazaki Herb Beef: From Miyazaki Prefecture
• Ishigaki Beef: Produced in the Yaeyama district and fattened there for about 20 months or more

Brands that set no region (21)

The source sets no region for these brands, even where the brand name includes a place name.

Furano Daichi Wagyu・Aomori Towadako Wagyu・Utsunomiya Beef・Tochigi Kirifuri Kogen Beef・Tochigi Wagyu・Joshu Wagyu・Hayama Beef・Yokohama Beef・Koshu Beef・Atsumi Beef・Kuroshio Beef・Tahara Beef・Sanda Beef・Okayama Wagyu・Olive-fed Wagyu Beef・Iyo Beef Kinu no Aji・Tosa Rouge Beef・Hakata Wagyu・Saga Beef・Nagasaki Wagyu・Oita Wagyu

Brands whose region rule also mentions birthplace (7)

These brands' region rules include the word "born". Wording such as "breeding and fattening in one operation" or "from calf production to fattening" is not counted here.

• Shikaoi Beef: Calves born in Shikaoi and fattened in the town from start to finish
• Shiraoi Beef: Born in Shiraoi and fattened longest in Shiraoi
• Joshu Beef: Born in Japan, finished in Gunma and raised longest there
• Awaji Beef: Born on Awaji Island and raised in Hyogo
• Oki Beef: Born and fattened in the Oki Islands, Shimane
• Tsuyama Wagyu: Born and raised in Tsuyama
• Miyazaki Beef: Born in Miyazaki (with exceptions for neighbouring prefectures) and raised longest in Miyazaki

How we counted

We sorted the part of each brand's source that is written as a region requirement. The full wording and sources are on each brand page. "Mentions birthplace" counts brands whose region rule, in the original Japanese, contains the word for "born".