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Wagyu Courses Research
- The Japanese Federal Meat Academy serves host for many Waygu industry experts and educates many younger chefs in each aspect of Waygu production.
- Masters of Japanese Cusine Academy offers online courses for Wagyu meat preparation and cooking.
- Partnering with small beef producers, the Imperial American Wagyu Beef company advises and consults with US based family farms in initiating or improving Waygu beef cattle grow and finishing programs, including farm-to-table.
Introduction
Wagyu courses, both online and in-person, are not very prevalent mainly due to the small quantity of Wagyu cattle outside of Japan. For example, the United states only has an estimated 40,000 head of Waygu cattle (of which only 5,000 are considered pure-bred). However, several Waygu country specific organizations have popped-up in recent years including the Australian Waygu Association, the American Waygu Association, and the Wagyu Certified Beef Program of the Wagyu Society of South Africa. Several online or in-person classes or courses for Waygu meat production are available both in the US and Japan.
WAGYU MEAT PRODUCTION COURSES
Japanese Federal Meat Academy
- This unique meat educational facility is a "polytechnic school accredited by the Mayor of Gumma Prefecture." Its goal is to provide for the student to "master various techniques and knowledges about meat" produced in the region.
- Information about the academy's instructors is provided in Japanese and found on the instructor page of the main website. No information regarding the instructors was found in English.
- The academy offers general course lengths of 6 months or a year, as well as short-term courses or seminars of a few weeks to 3 months focusing on education for subsets of the wagyu industry dynamic.
- The 3-month meat sales course curriculum includes 480 hours of education: 200 hours for studying, 280 hours for practical training.
- Seminars are offered by the academy to those in the beef industry, ranging in length from 1 day to 2 weeks and offer education in the basic skill of processing or retail cutting of beef.
Master of Japanese Cuisine Academy
- The academy offers a Wagyu Masterclass, which "covers how to handle wagyu beef from cutting to cooking"; taught by a Wagyu expert and a Japanese master chef.
- Expert and master butcher Kanako Kawa grew "up in a butcher family and learned butchery at the Federal Meat Academy in Japan in 2014".
- Membership plans through the academy allow for entry into the Wagyu Masterclass. The plans range from $39 to $75 for the pro-plan. The online course appears to be approximately 2 hours in length.
Imperial American Wagyu Beef
- Imperial American Wagyu Beef partners with family farms in the US in developing producers of Wagyu beef.
- The company offers procurement assistance, consultation (that includes fetal programming, nutrition, and vaccination consulting, as well as performance data and input), and selective distribution.
Swagyu Study Hall
- The 12-Course Progression of Wagyu Education Experience is brought by chefs Steve Brown and Nate Horton as "a fine dining experience while learning about the intricacies & excitement of Japanese, Australian, and American Wagyu beef". The course is offered at the Pacific Beach, California restaurant Swagyu, and reservations for up to 20 may be made directly through their website.
- The study halls are available on Fridays and Saturdays beginning at 7pm and cost $200 per person.
- Chef Brown attended the Japanese Wagyu Tour 2017 and imported his first A5 Satsuma Japanese Wagyu whole steer to the United States shortly thereafter.
Research Strategy
Where necessary, Japanese websites were translated into English. The 4 entries provided in the report cover academics, business-type course, and consulting-type services in the Wagyu beef industry.