What Is Wagyu Olympic?

“Wagyu Olympic” in Japan

There is 全国和牛能力共進会 (Zenkoku Wagyu Nouryoku Kyoushinkai usually abbreviated to 全共 (Zenkyo)), which is the biggest wagyu fair in Japan. Zenkyo is also known as Wagyu Olympic as this fair is held only every five years. Each prefecture in Japan competes in two main categories: breed improvement and meat quality.

Wagyu Olympic has long history and has started back in 1966. The next Wagyu Olympic will be held in 6 – 10 October 2022 in Kagoshima, Japan.

 

Categories of Wagyu Olympic

There are two main categories, breed improvement and meat quality. There are also sub categories, mainly categorized by the age and gender of cattle.

  1. Breed Improvement
    Compete on how well the breed is by its size, growth, body proportion etc.
  2. Meat Quality
    Compete on yield, meat quality, and quality of marble. Meat grading system (such as A5) is used for yield and meat quality. For quality of marble, amount of monounsaturated fatty acid is measured.

 

Branded Wagyu and Prefectures

This is not really a competition among branded wagyu since most prefectures have more than one branded wagyu. But, some branded wagyu has strong link to prefectures.

Examples: Link of Branded Wagyu and Prefecture

Branded Wagyu Prefecture
Miyazaki Beef Miyazaki
Hida Beef Gifu
Kobe Beef Hyogo

Learn more: Branded Wagyu

 

Results of Wagyu Olympics

Miyazaki Prefecture, which has strong relation to Miyazaki Beef, has won in recent three Wagyu Olympics, and its name has gained reputation in Japan and also outside of Japan (Miyazaki Beef was served in the Academy Awards ceremony!).

Learn more: Miyazaki Beef

Breed Improvement Meat Quality
1 Okayama Okayama
2 Oita Kagoshima
3 Shimane Shimane
4 Hiroshima Kagoshima
5 Hiroshima Shimane
6 Kagoshima Hyogo
7 Iwate Shizuoka
8 Gifu Oita
9 Miyazaki Miyazaki
10 Miyazaki Nagasaki
11 Oita Miyazaki
12 To Be Held in Oct 2022

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