The stuff sold in the US is from a cross of a Japanese cow and a Western cow, such as Angus.

It’s a con job, a marketing gimmick. It may be good, but it’s not what it claims to be unless it has the qualifier “American” in front of it, like the cheese.

Here’s an ad from Allen Brothers:

“Just as Champagne can only be used when describing sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France, the name Kobe is reserved exclusively to describe Wagyu cattle raised in the Kobe region of Japan for more than 1800 years. Hence, any Wagyu cattle raised outside of Kobe must go by the names Wagyu or Kobe-style.”

The guy who wrote that article doesn’t think much of “Wagyu” either.

This was a lot more than two years ago, so I have no idea if it was genuine or not.

Meh. It was good, but so were the regular hamburgers. Might be my own fault–I hear real Kobe beef is best eaten almost raw.

I wonder how many people laughing about the stupid Kobe buyers will be turning around and getting brown organic eggs at the green grocery store. Or dosing themselves with homeopathic medicine.

The world has been full of low-flying salesmen since Ugg discovered he could make arrowheads out of something that looked almost like flint.

In the long run, it’s the good products make the most money, but there’s still an appeal for a lot of people to getting just some of that money up front a lot more easily by selling crap.

“Welcome to Kobe Beef. Kobe Beef invite you to celebrate life with our steaks, the product of our passion and our dreams.

“The Wagyu Beef” – also known as “Kobe Beef” is the ultimate masterpiece of Japanese Beef.”
http://www.1-800-kobebeef.com/?gclid=COSf3drvvK8CFWcHRQodJn1mzQ

Marketing at it’s best, and worst.