Food Travel in Kyoto | Wagyu Wagyu - a Japanese beef cattle breed – derived from native Asian cattle. ‘Wagyu’ refers to all Japanese beef cattle, where ‘Wa’ means Japanese and ‘gyu’ means cow. Wagyu were originally draft animals used in agriculture and were selected for their physical endurance. This selection favored animals with more intra-muscular fat cells – ‘marbling’ – which provided a readily available energy source. Wagyu are naturally horned and can be either black or red. The unique ta