The sizzle and the smell whet your appetite. Take a bite, and you'll find the flavorsome meat literally melting in your mouth. Welcome to the world of Kobe beef that has captured the palates and hearts of gourmands over the years as the world's choicest beef.
History of Kobe beef
Until the late 19th century, consumption of meat from any kind of four-legged animal, let alone cows, was strictly prohibited in Japan. This all changed in 1868, however, as the country opened up to the world under the Meiji Restoration. Shunning the conventional, traditional value system of the Tokugawa Shogunate that prevailed until then, the changes under the restoration allowed an Englishman to obtain a cow from the local farmer to eat. Eating beef from a foreign country can be difficult due to differences in cattle, but the man found the beef surprisingly good. Word quickly spread — particularly among foreign residents — that the beef from the Kobe-Tajima area was tender and delicious. Under the name of "Kobe beef," it began being exported to Europe and America. Due to such a unique background in modern history, Kobe beef is still a relative newcomer on the dietary chronology of mankind.