JapanYufuinBungo Beef: A Century of Oita Wagyu and Yufuin’s Cattle Story
The beef you often meet at Yufuin’s inns and restaurants is Bungo beef, Oita’s wagyu brand. Here is its breeding history since the Meiji era, the brand rules, and Yufuin’s unusual festival where people eat beef and shout.
The Star of Yufuin’s Dinner Table
Bungo beef (豊後牛) is the wagyu brand of Oita Prefecture. “Bungo” comes from Bungo Province, the old name for most of the area. The cattle are Japanese Black, the breed behind most famous wagyu, and while the brand is not as widely known as Kobe or Matsusaka, it is one of the leading beef names in Kyushu. Yufuin is a hot spring village in a basin at the foot of Mount Yufu, and Bungo beef is easy to find on ryokan dinner menus and in restaurants around town. It appears in classic dishes like steak, shabu-shabu and sukiyaki, as well as in rice bowls, croquettes and skewers you can eat while strolling. This story looks at how Bungo beef became the brand it is today, what the name requires, and the long connection between Yufuin and its cattle.
From Meiji to Taisho: The Breeding Begins
Serious breeding work on Bungo beef is said to have begun in 1906, when the livestock division of Oita’s agricultural research station opened. In 1915 Maeda Tatsuo, later nicknamed “the god of cattle,” became the prefecture’s chief livestock engineer and threw himself into the effort. The results showed in 1921, when an Oita bull named Chiyoyama won the top prize at a national livestock exposition and, as the story goes, was paraded through Ginza in Tokyo. From the late 1960s onward, pastures were developed in places like the Iida Highlands in the Kuju mountains, and herd numbers grew. Wide grasslands and clean water became the foundation of Oita’s cattle.
The Bull Itofuku and the 2002 Prime Minister’s Prize
No story of Bungo beef is complete without Itofuku, a bull born in 1983. He is said to have sired around 40,000 calves, and his line forms a major branch of Bungo beef bloodlines today. The wagyu world holds a national competition every five years, nicknamed the “Wagyu Olympics.” Oita hosted the 6th edition in 1992, and at the 8th in 2002, Suefuku, a descendant of Itofuku, won the top award in the beef cattle division, the Prime Minister’s Prize. That win put Bungo beef on the national map. In wagyu, where one bull can leave tens of thousands of offspring, protecting and continuing a great bull’s line is the same as protecting the brand’s quality.
What the Name Requires: “Oita Bungo Beef” and Grades
The name Bungo beef was registered as a regional collective trademark in October 2007. In 2013 the various labels in use were unified as “Oita Bungo Beef” (おおいた豊後牛). To carry the Oita Bungo Beef name, the animal must be Japanese Black, have been fattened longest within Oita, be under 36 months old and grade 2 or higher for meat quality. Meat graded 4 or above is classed separately as the premium tier. That premium tier was first named Kiwami (極), but it turned out the trademark was already taken, so in September 2013 it was renamed Itadaki (頂). If you see 頂 on a menu, it means the top tier.
Yufuin, the Village Where People Eat Beef and Shout
One event captures Yufuin’s bond with cattle: the Yufuin Beef-Eating Shouting Contest. In 1975, when rumors after the central Oita earthquake drove tourists away, residents launched horse-drawn sightseeing carriages and the Yufuin music festival, and local committees went on to start this contest and the Yufuin film festival, making the village famous nationwide. Behind the contest is the idea of city people becoming owners of calves to support struggling local livestock farming and protect the grasslands. Every autumn people gather at a pasture, eat beef raised in Yufuin and then shout whatever is on their minds. Reports say the 52nd contest was held in October 2026. A practical tip: save premium Bungo beef for a relaxed ryokan dinner or a reserved restaurant, and in the daytime snack on beef croquettes or skewers around the Yunotsubo street area.