Wagyu beef companies from across Japan showcased their products on Monday at a food exhibition celebrating the return of Japanese beef to Australia after 17 years.
Sponsored by the Japan External Trade Organization, the Premium Japanese Food Showcase featured nine Japanese beef companies, many of which were eager to explain the differences between the wagyu beef from Japan and so-called "Australian wagyu," which was developed using semen and embryos, as well as live animals, imported from Japan in the 1990s.
"Personally, I think Australian wagyu is wonderful; it's of a very high quality," said Hideki Tabata, 62, of the Omi Beef Export Promotion Cooperative.