Imperial Wagyu Kobe Beef - Kobe Style Beef, and Traditional Japanese Kobe Beef - Kobe Beef History:
The word Wagyu (pronounced wa-gyou) translated literally means Japanese, or Japanese-style cattle. Interestingly, there was a sound reason for breeding the Wagyu cattle for use only as draft animals, or beasts of burden - at that time Japanese religion prohibited the consumption of beef. But all that changed when an innovative Japanese military leader predicted diets rich in beef would make for significantly stronger soliders, and a successful compaign waged by the general's beef-strengthened troops served to validate his point. From that time forward, beef was a mandated part of the Japanese military diet in times of war -- it gave them strength.
Not surprisingly, when the triumphant, beef-fed soliders returned to their homes and to their farms, they brought with them an appetite for beef. That appetite was a problem - Japanese elders still embraced their traditional beliefs. Cooking and consuming beef inside the house was considered a sacrilege, a desecration of the house, and was therefore forbidden.
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