How Wagyu Beef Is Made at Japan’s Toriyama Co.

Toriyama’s farm currently houses 1,400 Japanese Black cows. Wagyu stands out from other types of beef because the cows are raised over a long period of time: There’s a three-year period between when a cow is born and when it is eventually slaughtered. New wagyu calves are born everyday on the Toriyama farm. A week after its birth, the baby cow is moved to a shed where the nursing department feeds it a temperature-controlled formula. When a cow turns three months old, it is moved again and is fed two different types of supplements: rice for energy and miso for protein and minerals. Every cow is meticulously taken care of until it is time for it to be shipped for slaughter.

When a cow is slaughtered and cleaned, it’s then sent to the facility where it’s prepared for butchering. The first step of the butchering process is splitting the carcass into two pieces: the mae and tomo. From the mae, the shoulder and clod are cut, whereas the tomo is cut into the loin, belly, and chuck eye. Once these five pieces are removed, they are divvied up into different cuts. For example, the filet, the most precious cut, comes from the loin. Every cut at Toriyama is done by a butcher with a Meister certification, a technical accreditation for meat processing specialists. “I saw how many coworkers were artisans at deboning and cutting the meat,” says Odabashi, who became a Meister in eight years. “I aspired to become a skilled tradesperson like them.”

Watch the latest episode of The Vendors to learn how Toriyama produces some of world’s top-tier beef products.