The Japanese Black is a breed of Japanese beef cattle. It is one of six Japanese cattle breeds, and one of the four Japanese breeds known as wagyu, the others being the Japanese Brown, the Japanese Polled and the Japanese Shorthorn.
All wagyu cattle derive from cross-breeding in the early twentieth century of native Japanese cattle with imported stock, mostly from Europe. In the case of the Japanese Black, the foreign influence was from European breeds including Braunvieh, Shorthorn, Devon, Simmental, Ayrshire and Holstein.
Japanese Black
Japanese Black cattle at a wagyu show in Sasebo, Nagasaki
Cattle of the Tajima strain on a farm in northern Hyōgo Prefecture
Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production. The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef.
In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf operations, backgrounding, and feedlot operations. The production cycle of the animals starts at cow-calf operations; this operation is designed specifically to breed cows for their offspring. From here the calves are backgrounded for a feedlot. Animals grown specifically for the feedlot are known as feeder cattle, the goal of these animals is fattening. Animals not grown for a feedlot are typically female and are commonly known as replacement heifers.
While the principal use of beef cattle is meat production, other uses include leather, and beef by-products used in candy, shampoo, cosmetics, and insulin.
A young bull of the Blonde d'Aquitaine breed.
Japanese wagyu bull on a farm north of Kobe
Cattle in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso