This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Wagyu burger. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality.

If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. All wagyū cattle derive from cross-breeding in the early twentieth century of native Japanese cattle with imported stock, mostly from Europe. In several areas of Japan, Wagyu beef is shipped carrying area names. Some examples are Matsusaka beef, Kobe beef, Yonezawa beef, Ōmi beef, and Sanda beef. Cattle were brought to Japan from China at the same time as the cultivation of rice, in about the second century AD, in the Yayoi period.

Between 1868, the year of the Meiji Restoration, and 1887, some 2600 foreign cattle were imported. At first, there was little interest in cross-breeding these with the native stock, but from about 1900, it became widespread. It ceased abruptly in 1910 when it was realised that, while the cross-breeds might be larger and have better dairy qualities, their working capacity and meat quality was lower. From 1919, the various heterogeneous regional populations that resulted from this brief period of cross-breeding were registered and selected as “Improved Japanese Cattle”. Japan, in Kōchi Prefecture on Shikoku island, and in Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu island. The Australian Wagyu Association is the largest breed association outside Japan.