Kenji Miyoda, savoring a bowl of rice topped with beef from Australia, raw egg and spicy sauce, believes Australian beef is far safer than American beef.

"It tastes OK, it's cheap, and it fills me up," the 27-year-old banker said gobbling down his 450 yen meal at Sukiya, a nationwide chain that placed a full-page newspaper ad to declare it's opposed to serving U.S. beef because of safety concerns.

Miyoda's view is typical among many Japanese. Australian beef was once viewed as tough and tasteless compared with its U.S. counterpart, but that stereotype is vanishing on quality upgrades by switching feed to grain, instead of just grass, to cater to the Japanese palate.