Japan’s ‘Wagyu Olympics’ and how the best beef is selected by restaurants and retailers in Hong Kong
- Japan’s largest wagyu fair, held every five years in October, crowns the top Japanese beef, with wagyu from Miyazaki prefecture dominating in recent iterations
- Sellers in Hong Kong talk about how the select they highest-quality beef from renowned areas of Japan, based on breed, sex, age and diet
The Zenkoku Wagyu Nouryoku Kyoushinkai, or Zenkyo for short, is the largest wagyu beef fair in Japan. Held once every five years since its founding in 1966, it is regarded as the “Wagyu Olympics”. This year Zenkyo will take place from October 6 to 10 in Kagoshima prefecture, on the island of Kyushu.
There are only two categories in the fair: breed improvement and meat quality, the latter having various subcategories. In the past three iterations of Zenkyo, Miyazaki wagyu, from Miyazaki prefecture, dominated by winning in either one or both of these categories.
“Japan has 47 prefectures and we know which ones enter Zenkyo and which refrain from the competition,” says Wyman Lee Wai-man, a meat buyer for Hong Kong’s upmarket grocery chain City’super.
According to Instagram food influencer Joyce To Ysz-heo, wagyu is one of the few premium delicacies that is widely loved around the world.