Prime-Time-Winter-2018

Akaushi

BY BUBBA BAIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR I would like to offer some ideas and opinions on the definitions of Akaushi and Wagyu. Hopefully this will help clarify these two terms. By defining this subject properly, I hope it will have a positive and lasting effect on all of the Japanese beef breeds and their future success. Versus the Term Wagyu

M any people have been suc- cessful in defining Wagyu as a breed. I see it differently. I believe the true definition of Wagyu refers to an origin, not a single breed. Akaushi is a

Mitsuru Minezawa, a prominent Japa- nese animal science researcher and aca- demic, offers his own definition of the term Wagyu . “The word Wagyu is an angliciza- tion of the Japanese language ‘wa-gyu,’ which simply

means our [Jap- anese-produced] beef cattle. It does not describe any single breed.” Minezawa de- fines contempo- rary Japanese Wagyu as being comprised of four distinct breeds, in

separate and dis- tinct breed from the other Japanese cattle. There are no similarities, ge- netically or pheno- typically, between Akaushi and the other Japanese

cattle breeds. Based on my research, the Akaushi breed started with the South Korean breed known as Hanwoo. Around 1870, the Devon breed was infused into the Hanwoo cattle, and in roughly 1910, the Simmental breed was incorporated into the breed as well. Around 1910, the breed was closed to any other outside genetics and the Akaushi breed was formed. To this day, Akaushi remains the same – a closed herd for more than 100 years. First, let’s define the word breed , which means a stock of animals or plants within a species having distinctive genetics and appearance, typically having been devel- oped by deliberate selection. Now, let’s define Wagyu , which is any of several breeds of cattle, the most desired of which is genetically predisposed to intense marbling and to producing a high percent- age of oleaginous unsaturated fat.

addition to two indigenous Japanese cattle breeds (Mishima and Kuchinoshima), both of which survive only in non-commercial, trace populations. The four distinct breeds are Kryoshi (Kuroushi, Kuroge Washu), Akaushi (Akage Washu), Japanese Polled (Mukaku Washu) and Japanese Shorthorn (Nihon Tankaku Washu). With this definition, there is even more clarity that the term Wagyu is an origin, not a breed. It is my hope that the follow- ing quotes, statements and definitions will help provide additional clarity.  The American Wagyu Association de- fines Wagyu as “a Japanese beef cattle breed derived from native Asian cattle. Wagyu refers to all Japanese beef cattle, where ‘wa’ means Japanese and ‘gyu’ means cow.”  Six Buck Ranch raises both Red and Black Wagyu cattle in Roberts, Mont.

Akaushi Prime Time • Winter 2018

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