The Land of the Rising Sun is home to a gourmet indulgence that can turn a sun-kissed yacht charter afternoon into a transcendent spiritual and  sensual awakening

Japan has produced many cultural pinnacles that tower among human accomplishments like Mount Fuji over her surrounding lakes.  Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashamon, Nobelist Kenzaburo Oe’s novel An Echo of Heaven and the five-story Pagoda in the Uakushi-ji Temple in Nara all make splendid examples.
   
Kobe beef, for its part, serves well as a Zen ideal in that it can be a vehicle for a mystical transformation of consciousness.  That silken mouthfeel, luxurious unctuousness, complex, perfumed beef flavor and poetically beautiful, enduring aftertaste make Kobe beef a highly coveted delicacy.
   
Kobe beef being the high-profile prestige item it is, you might think finding information regarding its history in Japan would be easy.  There is, however, a 5-star animal husbandry associated with the cultivation of Kobe beef . . . the massaging of the cows with sake or gin, the inclusion of cold premium beers in their diet, and such . . . that has been evocatively mythicized in the modern imagination.  The Japanese, not wanting to dispel the enchantment or give away trade secrets in a competitive global market, make an art of encouraging people to believe what fantastical things they will about Kobe beef, without complicating the picture too much with hard facts.
   
One result is that the historical roots of Kobe beef cultivation are as though lost in the lovely mists of an Asian landscape depicted on a silkscreen.  It is true that for about 1,000 years prior to the Meiji restoration in 1866, Buddhist and Shinto vegetarianism limited consumption of meats in Japan.  Soldiers nonetheless ate beef because it was thought to make them stronger.  When not in battle, soldiers visiting their families were not permitted to eat beef indoors, as their elders believed doing so would be an insult to their ancestors.  So the soldiers cooked beef outside on plowshares.  Japanese for plowshare cooking is sukiyaki.
   
Some sources say cattle were carefully bred and crossbred for many centuries in Japan while others make as though the activity were only recently introduced.  What is certain is that Kobe beef cultivation received a significant boost from the Meiji restoration and, overall, enjoyed steadily increasing fortunes during the 20th century and into the 21st.  Emperor Meiji favored ending Japan’s isolation, encouraging foreigners to trade with Japan and the Japanese to adopt some of their ways, conspicuous among them the consumption of beef.  Western architecture began having more of an impact; it is interesting to note that the Meiji Mura museum, which assembles significant historical structures in a single park near Nagoya, includes a restaurant moved to the museum from Kobe and said to be the first ever to serve Kobe beef.
   
The term “Kobe beef” is above all a geographical designation much like Champagne or Roquefort.  Real Kobe beef must come from Hyogo prefecture from a Wagyu cow cultivated according to the highest standards.  Did you say “Wagy-who?”  “Wa” is an archaic Japanese-language term for all things Japanese and “gyu” has the meaning of “hooved animal.”  The modern Wagyu cow is native to Japan, and the breed of it that produces the finest beef is the black, hairy Tajima-ushi. 
   
Tajima-ushi cows have a genetic predisposition to accumulate large quantities of subcutaneous, intermuscular, intramuscular and internal fats.  The good news is that not only does that fat contribute to the beef’s flavor; it is two-thirds monounsaturated fatty acids, which help lower your cholesterol.
   
Why are hairy black Wagyu cows so famously pampered?  One prevalent theory is that the less stress the cows suffer, the more tender will be their meat, tenderness being as greatly-prized a quality in Kobe beef as any other.  They are not left to roam a lot, as that would cause their muscles to develop, making their meat tougher.  Instead of being subjected to the “feed stress” of different pasture foods available during changing seasons, they are fed a consistent and costly diet of beans, rich pasture grass, rice bran and white rice.  They really are given the best of Japanese beers to drink in summer, because it increases their appetite.
   
The massages are said to be given to relax the Wagyu, to improve their circulation and stimulate their muscles without toughening their meat.  Their caretakers regularly brush their coats with sake or gin, mainly because the external appearance of the cow influences the price it will fetch, and the sake-brushing gives them a lustrous coat.  In Ian Fleming’s You Only Live Twice, James Bond at one point massages a Wagyu, later eating Kobe beef that “was, indeed, without equal in his experience.”
   
In 1976, Wagyu cattle were introduced to the United States.  By now, so-called Kobe-style beef is produced in America, Australia and Scotland.  The cows producing it, though, have largely been cross-bred with Black Angus, and these cross-breeds do not result in beef as densely marbled as true Kobe beef, which the Japanese call “white steak.”  Advances have been made towards pure Wagyu breeds outside Japan, with most of the meat being sold back to the Japanese market.  Feed is less costly and land more abundant in the US, so much raising of cows is literally farmed out.
   
Still, in order to be called “Kobe beef,” the carcasses must be processed in Hyogo prefecture.  Many American Wagyu ranchers send their cows to Japan for the requisite processing.  For a time, genuine Kobe beef was not available in the US because of trade disagreements and then fears of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, la vache folle, mad cow disease.  So it would actually happen that a Wagyu would get shipped to America, shipped back to Kobe for processing, and then its steak would be ordered at huge expense by an American customer.
   
The trade problems have ended and genuine Kobe beef is available outside Japan.  Yet most venues outside Japan serve “Kobe style” or “Wagyu” beef that, while tasty, is not the genuine article.  American ranchers tend to be dismissive of the importance of pampering the cows, claiming that the most significant factors are genetics and a good feed program.  Well, maybe, but at this point, the pure Wagyus raised in America get sent back to Japan, and the ones crossbred with Black Angus don’t have the desired dense marbling.
   
Meanwhile, rumors fly about exactly what Japanese farmers do to spoil their cattle rotten.  You will hear everything including claims that the cows are played Mozart because it relaxes them, and that some farmers provide them with heated waterbeds.  The Japanese are telling as little as they can, because they do not necessarily want to dilute the Kobe beef mystique by having it produced at the four points of the compass.  One Japanese cattle trader who was deemed to have told too much to foreigners was expelled from the National Wagyu Cattle Registration Association in Japan.
   
The cult of Kobe beef has lately hit a frenzied pitch.  In New York City, BLT Steak serves a five ounce Kobe burger for $62, and paparazzi report on which celebrities have ordered it.  The Kobe Club serves “the Emperor’s flight;” a plate of American, Australian, and Japanese Wagyu beef steaks with identifying flags planted in them ($190)  Nello’s on Madison Avenue offers a genuine Kobe beef steak seasoned with white truffle shavings for $1,050.  A CIA employee described what happened to his boss Porter Goss by saying “He was softened up over the years by these guys like a Kobe beef cow.”  Fukutsuru was a Wagyu bull born in Japan and then sent to Snake River Farms in Idaho to breed.  He did such a good job, and his calves produced such well-marbled beef, that by the time he passed away, 100,000 units of his semen had been cryogenically frozen.  He is, as it were, still begetting prize-winning offspring.
   
So what’s the fuss?  Just as a truffle is not any old tuber, Kobe beef is not any old meat.  You do best to consider it a victual in a class of its own, as is foie gras.  Japanese beef is graded on a scale of 1 to 12; American prime beef is only a 4 on that scale.  Fat is distributed more evenly and densely in Kobe beef than in American steaks, affecting how it is best handled and prepared.
   
Minimal cooking yields the correct and best results.  Thinly sliced as carpaccio, perhaps accompanied by arugula and shaved Parmesan, it may be enjoyed raw.  Searing is the preferred method of cooking Kobe beef, with the meat placed in an intensely pre-heated pan and quickly cooked crisp on two sides, leaving the inside quiveringly red.  Overheating Kobe beef causes the fat to melt out and the structure of the beef to collapse.  The texture of well-prepared Kobe beef is more that of a pâté than an American-style beef.
   
Chefs work with Kobe beef as steak, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, sashimi and teppanyaki.  The rich, distinctive flavor is delectable on its own though some culinary talents have dreamt up tantalizing dishes.  Roy Yamaguchi, for examples, makes Kona coffee-braised Kobe beef short ribs with wasabi mashed potatoes and sweet ginger molasses shellac.
   
If Kobe beef can be compared to anything at all, then by virtue of its soft velvety richness it might be compared to foie gras.  Its heavenly delights have to be experienced to be understood; people have been converted by a nearly-translucent sliver with just a flick of pepper.  Such a tender sliver melts upon the tongue, spreading its sweet, exquisite, complex and lingering flavor.
   
What could be more appropriate than to end this article with a 7-5-7 syllables haiku?
Riviera marina
Kobe carpaccio
Pefect yachting fantasy 

About Kobe, Japan
Kobe is an important port city; alas that so far, the yacht charter market has not discovered Japan.  Cruise lines do offer Japanese vacations, during which you could venture ashore to seek a genuine Kobe beef meal prepared à la Japonaise.  Savvy charter yacht chefs, however, know how to procure and prepare Kobe beef to enhance your charter experience whether you are in the Sea of Cortes or Palma de Mallorca.