

Yonezawa Gyu Oguni Meat
Yonezawa Prefecture
What is Yonezawa Gyu Oguni Meat?
Yonezawa Gyu Oguni Meat is beef from Japanese Kuroge (black hair) virgin heifers that are average 33 months or older (1,000+ days feed program) at the time of shipping and are produced in the Oguni region of Yamagata Prefecture, and its quality is graded at grade 3 or higher according to the "Beef Carcass Trading Standards." Due to its high quality and unique taste, it is often called one of the three great wagyu (Japan’s Sandai Wagyu 日本三大和牛) beef breeds in Japan, but behind this lies the accumulation of a long tradition. Yonezawa Gyu is often called the "Phantom Beef". This is because, despite the small amount of supply being available, there is a constant demand from customers who knows Yonezawa Gyu making it very rare products.
Meat Character
The most distinctive taste character of Yonezawa Gyu Oguni Meat is its flavor by raising the female kuroge (black hair) virgin heifers cattle for over 1,000+ days, and its daily feeds of locally harvested secret ingredients such as Oguni based Sake Kasu and Oguni rice and rice straw. The visual appealing of the meat is known as "fine marbling" and "well balanced high quality fat". The secret to raising this high-quality Yonezawa Gyu Oguni Meat lies in the natural blessings of the Yonezawa Basin and the farmers who raise it. Yonezawa gyu is characterized by its long breeding period. The brand definition of Yonezawa gyu requires that the cattle must be 33 months or older after birth, and each cattle is managed by the breeding farmer until it is shipped.
Raising Environment
Yonezawa Gyu Oguni Meat is raised in Yamagata Prefecture, and has a climate unique, with extreme temperature differences between the day and summer and winter. When these cold and hot periods alternate in a short period of time, fine marbling occurs and the meat becomes fine and tender. In winter, the temperature can drop to minus 17 degrees Celsius, and this cold also increases the sugar content of the fat, making it high-quality fat. In addition, the secret to making Yonezawa Gyu delicious is the meltwater that contains a lot of minerals. Yamagata Prefecture is a heavy snow area, and snow remains on the peaks of Mt. Nishiazuma and Mt. Iide until July. Because it absorbs a lot of moisture from the Sea of Japan and falls, it contains many minerals, and the snow that is full of minerals also falls and accumulates in Yonezawa.








Yonezawa Gyu Oguni Meat farming is recognized for their animal welfare pasture land and open ranged grass fed program during summer season. Yonezawa Gyu Oguni Meat is working with locally produced Oguni region ingredients feeds and always aiming towards a sustainable program.



Over 150 years Rich History of Yonezawa Gyu
Since the first beef shop opened in Yonezawa City in the early Meiji period (1868-1872), Yonezawa beef has been highly regarded for its quality and has been used as meat for entertaining guests. Even today, it is a popular attraction for tourists visiting the Yonezawa area, who look forward to trying Yonezawa Gyu steak, sukiyaki, and shabu-shabu. By the mid-Meiji period (1890s), pastures and slaughterhouses had been established in and around Yonezawa, and the production of Yonezawa Gyu as an industry was on track, with the number of head slaughtered per year exceeding 300 in the early Taisho period (1910s). As demand for Yonezawa beef increased in this way, beef cattle raising became popular in the Yonezawa area.
