How Wagyu Came to America is one of the most fascinating stories in American beef history. It involves four Japanese Wagyu bulls, an unusual research opportunity, a trip through Canada, and a group of people who helped introduce some incredible cattle genetics to the United States in 1975. But here’s the part that might surprise you: despite what you may have heard, those four bulls were not smuggled out of Japan.
And we got to hear the story from someone who was actually there.
For this special episode of The Meat Dudes Podcast, we sat down with 105-year-old Dr. John Matsushima, a legendary cattle nutrition scientist from Colorado State University who was directly involved in bringing those original four Wagyu bulls to America.
Helping us tell the story was Dr. Keith Belk, one of the country’s most respected meat scientists, along with members of Dr. Matsushima’s family.
Our goal was simple. We wanted to turn on the cameras, hear this history firsthand, and preserve an important chapter of American Wagyu while we still had the opportunity.
And what a story it turned out to be.
Were the First Wagyu Bulls Smuggled Out of Japan?
If you’ve spent much time around the Wagyu industry, you’ve probably heard the story.
Four Wagyu bulls were secretly smuggled out of Japan in the 1970s, eventually making their way to America and helping start an entirely new beef industry.
We’ve heard it ourselves. In fact, I’ve repeated that version of the story on the podcast before.
But according to Dr. Keith Belk, that’s not what happened.
The cattle were brought to the United States legally, through a specific research provision in Japan’s animal health and biosecurity regulations.
There was certainly resistance to exporting Wagyu genetics. Japanese producers and government officials wanted to protect their cattle industry, and getting permission wasn’t easy.
But the opportunity was there.
And two people helped make it happen: Morris Whitney and Dr. John Matsushima.
The Research Opportunity That Changed Wagyu History
Morris Whitney was an American businessman with ranching interests in Texas who saw potential in Japanese beef genetics.
Interest in Japanese beef had already been growing in the United States for decades.
Following World War II, Americans who had spent time in Japan returned home with stories about the incredible quality of Japanese beef, particularly beef associated with the Kobe region.
People were becoming curious about this exceptional product, even though there wasn’t a commercial supply available in America.
Whitney wanted to change that.
Working with Dr. Matsushima, he identified a legal pathway that allowed Japanese cattle to be exported for scientific research.
Dr. Matsushima traveled to Japan and visited a research station on the northern island of Hokkaido.
There, he selected four Wagyu bulls.
In 1975, those four bulls left Japan, traveled through Canada, and eventually arrived at Colorado State University.
It was a remarkable accomplishment, and one that would become an important early chapter in American Wagyu history.
Meet the Original Four Wagyu Bulls
The four bulls represented two distinct types of Japanese Wagyu cattle.
Japanese Black Wagyu:
- Mazda
- Mount Fuji
Japanese Brown Wagyu, now commonly called Akaushi:
- Judo
- Rueshaw
These weren’t just four random cattle.
Their genetics would become part of the foundation for early American Wagyu breeding efforts.
The two Japanese Black bulls were believed to have Tajima ancestry associated with the Hyogo Prefecture, home to the famous Kobe beef tradition.
The two Japanese Brown bulls contributed to early Akaushi genetics in America.
It’s incredible to think that four individual animals could have such a lasting impact.
What Happened When the Wagyu Bulls Arrived in America?
When the cattle arrived in the United States, they went to Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
At the time, CSU operated a facility commonly known as the bull farm, where researchers were studying animal reproduction and collecting and preserving semen.
Dr. Matsushima helped lead the research involving the Wagyu bulls, working alongside scientists including Dr. B.W. Pickett.
Another researcher connected to the work was George Seidel, who would go on to become a major figure in reproductive science.
The bulls were only at Colorado State for a relatively short period before moving to Texas.
Whitney initially hoped to use their genetics to improve beef quality in American cattle and potentially produce premium beef for export back to Japan.
But the market wasn’t ready.
International beef trade was still developing, and American consumers didn’t yet have the familiarity with Wagyu that we see today.
Eventually, the bulls changed hands, and their genetics became involved in additional breeding and research efforts, including work associated with the Texas A&M system.
At the McGregor Research Station, researchers continued developing Wagyu-influenced cattle.
Those early breeding programs also helped lay groundwork for the American Wagyu Association.
The bulls may have been ahead of their time commercially, but the research and genetics would have a much longer-lasting impact.
How Wagyu Came to America Was Only the First Chapter
One thing we want to make absolutely clear is that the arrival of those four bulls in 1975 was not the entire story of American Wagyu.
It was an important beginning.
Because all four original cattle were bulls, breeders couldn’t immediately establish Fullblood Wagyu breeding populations in the United States.
They could cross those bulls with American cattle and continue breeding successive generations to increase the percentage of Wagyu genetics.
But without Japanese Wagyu females, there were limitations.
That changed significantly in the 1990s.
Dr. Jerry Reeves of Bar R Wagyu and the later wave of Japanese Wagyu imports helped open an entirely new chapter in the development of American Wagyu.
Those imports included additional Japanese Black and Japanese Brown genetics, along with females, allowing breeders to establish true-breeding Fullblood Wagyu populations in America.
That work was enormously important in building the industry we know today.
The early research in the 1970s and the expanded genetic imports in the 1990s are both essential parts of the history.
One chapter helped lay the groundwork. The next helped build on it.
And the ranchers, researchers, breeders, and organizations that followed have continued shaping American Wagyu ever since.
Only 221 Wagyu Cattle Left Japan?
One of the most surprising numbers from our conversation came from Dr. Belk.
According to his historical account, 221 individual Japanese cattle left Japan through the United States during the period when those genetics were being exported.
Those cattle and their descendants eventually helped establish Wagyu populations in other countries, including Australia and Brazil.
Think about that for a moment.
We now have Wagyu producers around the world raising an incredible variety of cattle, producing beef with different characteristics, marbling levels, and flavor profiles.
And much of that international breeding history traces back to a remarkably limited group of original animals.
It also helps explain why pedigrees, genetics, and breeding decisions remain such important topics in the Wagyu industry.
When Did Japan Stop Exporting Wagyu Genetics?
Another popular piece of Wagyu folklore involves Japan designating its cattle as a national treasure.
You’ll often hear that Wagyu was officially declared a national treasure decades ago, preventing further exports.
But Dr. Belk explained a more complicated history.
According to his account, Japan effectively stopped the legal export of Wagyu genetics around 1997 by using its existing regulatory authority.
He also discussed a later formal national-treasure designation in 2020.
It’s an interesting distinction, and another example of why we wanted to document this conversation.
Over time, stories get repeated, details change, and the original history becomes harder to piece together.
Having scientists and people directly connected to the events explain what happened helps us understand that history more clearly.
Is American Wagyu Real Wagyu?
This is one of our favorite conversations to have on The Meat Dudes.
Some people believe that if Wagyu isn’t raised in Japan, it isn’t real Wagyu.
But American Wagyu cattle have legitimate Japanese Wagyu ancestry.
Dr. Belk explained that there can be questions about geographic origin and the way the Wagyu name is used, but that doesn’t make the genetics fake.
And that’s an important distinction.
Japanese Wagyu is the original tradition, with its own incredible history, breeding practices, grading systems, and regional identities.
American Wagyu has developed through those imported genetics, American breeding programs, and different approaches to raising cattle.
Both deserve appreciation.
At The Meat Dudes, we always come back to one idea:
Wagyu is a spectrum.
From Japanese A5 and A4 to American Fullblood, Purebred, and F1 Wagyu, there are so many different ways to experience this incredible beef.
And that’s what makes it exciting.
Dr. Matsushima’s Impact Goes Far Beyond Wagyu
As incredible as the story of those four bulls is, it represents only one piece of Dr. Matsushima’s remarkable career.
During our conversation, we also heard stories about his contributions to cattle nutrition and the broader beef industry.
One of my favorite moments involved a cold morning and a bowl of hot cereal.
Dr. Matsushima recalled how that experience helped inspire the idea of using steam-flaked corn in cattle feeding.
That work contributed to more efficient cattle feeding practices, helping producers improve how they raise beef.
We also talked about the flat iron steak, a cut we absolutely love, and heard Dr. Matsushima discuss its naming history.
Imagine being 105 years old and having stories like these.
The knowledge, experience, and history that Dr. Matsushima carries are extraordinary.
And being able to sit down with him and his family was something we’ll never forget.
Why Preserving Wagyu History Matters
One of the reasons we started The Meat Dudes was to better understand the people behind the beef.
We’ve talked with ranchers across the United States, visited farms, cooked beef from incredible producers, and learned that the deeper you go into Wagyu, the more fascinating the stories become.
But the history isn’t always easy to find.
There are competing accounts, old newspaper articles, research documents, and personal stories that haven’t always been brought together in one place.
Dr. Belk made an observation during our conversation that really stuck with us: when reliable information is missing, drama and speculation tend to fill the gaps.
That’s exactly why we wanted to have this discussion.
Not to rewrite Wagyu history.
Not to take credit away from the incredible people who helped build this industry.
But to document one important part of a much bigger story.
The Meat Dudes: Helping People Find Better Beef
Understanding how Wagyu came to America helps us appreciate everything that followed.
From those four bulls in 1975 to the additional Japanese genetics imported in the 1990s, and from the researchers who studied these cattle to the ranchers raising them today, every chapter has helped shape the Wagyu industry.
We’re incredibly grateful to Dr. John Matsushima, Dr. Keith Belk, and Dr. Matsushima’s family for taking the time to share this history with us.
If you’re a Wagyu fan, a rancher, a beef lover, or just someone who enjoys an incredible story, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.
Watch the full conversation on The Meat Dudes YouTube channel or listen wherever you get your podcasts. And share it with your meat friends
