00:06 John Daub: Hello everybody, welcome to the 12th Wagyu Olympics, called Zenkyu (全共) in Japanese. In this episode I'm taking you inside the event. This is one of my favorites: three generations of Wagyu cattle. The purpose is to show local lineages and encourage Wagyu brands to breed within their region instead of buying cattle from different regions. I really think this is a great category for the breeding division. I'll explain a little about the Wagyu Olympics and how these athletes or contestants compete.

00:46 John Daub: Good morning everybody. I'm here on the media perch looking down at the Wagyu ushi (和牛牛，Wagyu cattle). Over the last couple of days I've gotten a better idea of the Wagyu industry and how to compare the brands. I've always wondered which Wagyu brand is the most delicious to eat. I've never been able to really tell the difference in the taste. Hopefully by coming here I can get a better idea by seeing the competition and understanding what makes a Wagyu brand. I think this is the most important thing with raising Wagyu beef. I'll try my best to explain, but I'm new to this quote-unquote sport. It's very fierce. They're very competitive here—the ranchers and the cattle. You can hear them both. So let's get to it.

01:48 John Daub: Here's my camera. I'm recording in 8K as well as a wide angle here for the main channel episode. Basically there's no battling—it's not like bullfighting. It's just a competition with two divisions. There's the breeding and breeding lineage—the beauty of the breed. Then there's a second division for the meat, judged in a different area. I'm going there this afternoon. I came here this morning for this one because it's awesome. This is mother, daughter, and grandma—grandma, mother, and daughter. She's wandering off there. The judges—you can tell who they are by those hats on. They're in the distance on the far corner, the official-looking hats. They take a look at the breed.

02:49 John Daub: I'm trying to pin down the kai-cho (会長，event chairman) to explain this to me. I had him yesterday but he took off before I could interview him, so I'll try again today. It's very important they explain this in English to everybody, because the winner ends up as Wagyu steaks in the White House or the Academy Awards. They were eating Miyazaki beef at the White House and Academy Awards last year because Miyazaki won the Wagyu Olympics. There are huge implications for this abroad. The winner is the winner. But the competition is really important—every five years everybody wants to come out here and be number one. You can tell the strong players from the weak ones, the regions with local players and support. They can bring a lot more Wagyu here to compete. Some prefectures don't have local support and only afford one or two, without the same cheering section.

03:51 John Daub: If you look over to the side, check it out. That's Kagoshima, the host—they have an entire block of fans, not just fans but other ranchers and industry people. The red over here is Hiroshima. Then pink and white is Hokkaido. I believe the purple is Iwate [?]. Hokkaido's got these hats—you see them? They look like my hat. Hokkaido's got pretty cool uniforms; the pink is striking. Of course the media is here. No international media, I guess because they couldn't get into the country or something. But this is an event worth covering. They just don't do a good enough job explaining it—even in Japanese it's too rigid. Hopefully I can boil this down and make it a little fun, which is what it should be. And teach a little bit, understand a little more about Wagyu beef. You can hear them moving in the background. I love that.

05:06 John Daub: I'm usually getting shots from this position, then I'll go down and get shots from the side. They do a little catwalk past the desk and come around. Here they go right now. This is Hokkaido. She's telling the mother the lineage of it in the background. They're saying who the mother and father is—that's really funny, but also really important. They track the lineage, with a 10-digit number on the ears. You see the yellow tags have a purpose—they have a barcode and number. You can search that number on the Wagyu database and track the lineage back 20, 25 years now. This is the young daughter, granddaughter—you can tell the size difference.

07:16 John Daub: Recently they've been incorporating IC chips and other technology. I interviewed a company with a special device to monitor the heat and pulse of the cattle, so they can tell if there's an emergency. If cattle fall down, they could get hurt and die—suffocate themselves, they told me. These cattle have great value, but it's hard to lose any life before the ultimate sacrifice to make the meat. These devices are still pricey but being utilized by more ranchers around Japan. There was one from a maker in Wakayama dedicated to expecting mothers, tracking progress. Once the mother is about to give birth, it notifies the rancher to deliver the baby without loss of life. I thought that was pretty cool. The company does imaging for other industries and thought they'd do it for beef. It's new but pretty popular, at least that's what they said. I'd like to learn more about this technology and how they're utilizing it to make the beef better.

08:48 John Daub: This competition is really important because they hold it every five years. It makes better meat, better practices, a better industry when everybody comes together. When ranchers explain it to me, it's a lot clearer, so I'm trying to give you that knowledge. It's really cool to see three generations out there. There are the judges in the center—you see them? They look like police officers but with those porcupine hats or something [?]. You can see they're touching the cattle, feeling the fur, judging the shape of the ladies here. I see four judges. You can see their handlers holding them still for inspection. There he is stroking the side, reaching around—I don't know what that's for.

10:53 John Daub: That's as far as the iPhone will zoom. They're doing a good job keeping them in line. These are very big creatures, these Wagyu cattle, and it's hard to keep them in line. Some are well trained but know their rancher. The rancher can look them in the eyes and make a big impact because they're accustomed to the people they work with every day. New people handling them often causes trouble because they don't trust them. I've had time in cow houses and established connections, but takes a while. They're very shy—not aggressive, but mostly Kuroge Wagyu (黒毛和種，black-haired Wagyu), or Washu. I've seen some brown ones too. Kuroge is quite tasty—they're right in front of us. I shouldn't talk about food, but it's hard to separate. For me, understanding where my food comes from helps me be a better consumer of meat. Actually, doing these episodes, I eat less meat—more responsibly. I don't take more than I need, and now I understand wasting it more. There's benefits to coming to the farm and seeing the animals. I limit cheap meats and buy more ethically sourced ones. You can see the care, especially for prize cattle.

13:03 John Daub: Wow, look at that straight line—that's perfect. It's a tough job because these cattle sometimes let loose number one and two. There are catchers with nets—sometimes they make it, sometimes not. You can see the stains. They do a good job cleaning. The stadium grounds are pretty sacred, so they clean fast. Up here are the flags of the prefectures—you can see behind there the flags of the beef brands competing. They look like samurai flags. Each brand has pride and believes in their beef quality, so they've come to cheer and win. Just 41 of 47 prefectures are here. The next event is the beef, I believe in Hokkaido—possibly all prefectures. I want to ask the man in charge if he'd consider foreign brands like US Wagyu, Australian, or others. What would that mean for Wagyu in general? Do they just promote Japanese brands or make it more international? More media would cover it, and the cattle agree. There's the Japanese flag. At the opening ceremony speeches, they bowed to the flag, people on left and right, then audience—quite respectful.

15:33 John Daub: Let's take a look at the cattle walk. It's been a real challenge with the end of the pandemic—this event at an unusual time. In the next week or two, Japan will change policies a bit, but right now we're in between. Organizers had a tough time deciding between strict protocols or lax, based on the mild situation. They're monitoring arena crowds so it doesn't get too full. I've been trying to ID the uniforms—can't place this one. Maybe Tochigi or Oita [?]. Oita's been strong; they won a subcategory last time in Sendai, the 11th Wagyu Olympics five years ago. Events are every five years, not four like the Olympics—maybe tied to breeding cycles. The more I learn, the more fascinating, because eventually these become food.

17:36 John Daub: One thing I learned: they don't judge taste, which is critical. When eating around the country, you might think Kobe or Miyazaki is best, but it's hard to judge one brand better. It's up to the individual—some like Omi gyu (近江牛), some Matsusaka gyu (松阪牛). Price reflects demand, but it's personal preference. You might not like Wagyu at all, prefer plain Angus. It comes down to chef or eater. This keeps quality high—farmers improving methods. Let's get back to the competition.

19:09 John Daub: Regional brands—and one thing with this event is how important they are to tourism. People in live chat like Matsusaka, Kobe, Yonezawa beef. The location you're in probably has the best because it's freshest. Tokyo even has a local beef brand—not well known, but they have countryside and islands. This is not the Westminster dog show—this is the Wagyu Olympics. You can see they're related: mother and daughter talking. Grandma maybe. Mind you, older Wagyu gets tougher, so they process at 30 to 36 months average. Breeding cows like these have lineage and won't be eaten soon—they're valuable breeders.

21:24 John Daub: Yesterday I saw a division for mothers birthing more than three calves—nice to celebrate that. Local lineage has been lacking; a lot of beef comes from Okinawa, Kagoshima, Miyazaki because they raise the most. They buy and finish elsewhere for the last year. Better if local lineage grows over generations for more local taste. Cattle shouldn't travel that far. Wagyu farmers all have different methods: two to five per pen, larger or smaller, but consistent space and cleanliness. Some play Mozart, take ushi on walks. Kuroge ushi don't like moving much—they prefer their life over pasture, which can be hot, cold, dangerous. When walking, they don't go far—like stressless teens gaming. Pulling by nose ring protects them from falling—done after six months or so, gentle pull guides them.

23:35 John Daub: In terms of beer, I haven't heard of it much—a 1970s Matsusaka promo showed them drinking Kirin beer [?]. Might relax them for tastier meat, but not healthier. Lots of misunderstandings: people think Kobe is different from Japanese Wagyu—it's just a brand, one of dozens. Restaurants call it Kobe because people don't know. Hard to taste huge differences—some oils vary, but chef, sides, ambiance matter more. This is pretty much the event—no fighting, peaceful. But three together being judged is interesting. I'll have winner pictures in the main episode.

28:36 John Daub: That's about it. I've come to Kagoshima for this—one of three episodes. Glad you joined to understand Japanese Wagyu industry. Leave questions in comments for this livestream—or I'll be in another later. Going to a fishing village on the south coast, then Kagoshima and Miyazaki. Stopping here two more times for shots. You can support with Super Thanks or Postcard Club on Patreon—this month Shinkansen 150 Years of Trains in Japan, special stamp postmarked from Shimbashi Station, first in 1872. Thanks for watching—see you soon. Enjoy more cow action, hit Like. The catwalk—that's Shimane Prefecture with the best cowboy hats. Yeehaw. See you everybody, have a good day.