Their roots run deep in the Native Asian Cattle, where ‘Wa’ means Japanese and ‘gyu’ means cow. These animals were originally used in Japanese agriculture for their physical endurance as their intramuscular fat cells provided them with a consistent energy source.
Wagyu’s naturally have horns, but the Japanese have bred them with imported British and European breeds in the 1860’s which allowed them to introduce the polled or Shorthorn Wagyu.