The Meat Dudes - A Wagyu Beef and BBQ Podcast
How American Wagyu Began: The First 4 Bulls
The story of American Wagyu didn't happen all at once. One of its earliest chapters began in 1975, when four Wagyu bulls legally made their way from Japan to the United States for research. In this special episode, we're joined by 105-year-old Dr. John Matsushima, who was directly involved in that history, along with Dr. Keith Belk of Colorado State University and Dr. Matsushima's family. We trace what happened to those original four bulls, why they came to America, the research conducted at Colorado State University, and how those early genetics helped set the stage for American Wagyu. But this was only the beginning. Without females, those first bulls couldn't create the Fullblood programs we know today. Later imports of Japanese bulls and females in the 1990s would become another enormously important chapter in the development and expansion of American Wagyu. This episode is about documenting the early part of that much bigger story. We also dig into the myths surrounding those original cattle, the origins of Japanese Black and Akaushi genetics in America, how Fullblood Wagyu became possible here, and why the history of American Wagyu can be so difficult to piece together. We're not trying to rewrite Wagyu history. We're trying to preserve it. The Meat Dudes — Helping People Find Better Beef.
