CATTLE: Mishima

Country of Origin: Mishima Island, Japan. 

Australian status:

International status: Critical. Found in Japan and Australia. Despite the term Mishima being used elsewhere it's believed the only pure herds are Japan and Austalia; here currently at 93.7% (thank you to Blackmore family for this information).

Came to Australia: 1990's and/or 2000s. The exciting story of them coming here is in the link to the only stud here, below.

Australian population: 2022: 75 cows. Thank you to David and Ben Blackmore for census return.

Australia: Watusi were first brought to Australia in 1991 by Kobeef International, which traded in cattle straws and embroys. The first F1's were bred here that year from straws (not sure of cow breed used) and the first full-blood Watusi also brought here that year (may have been the live import of a heifer, or by embryo transplant, to be investigated.) That year a quarter share in a heifer sold here for $30,000 and embryo pregnancies for $13,000. 

Photo of Mishima cattle on Mishima island from Gluttonize Wordpress blog
The headpiece is interesting, perhaps for leading and or tethering.

History: Mishima Island cattle were owned by small-holders. Rice paddies took up the arable land so the cattle needed to survive in the hills and valleys on roughage and seek shelter in the forest. They kept down excess growth around the place probably while tethered. Useful for carting supplies about and crops in. As there's not much level land they're very sure footed. A small sized beast is the ideal for small holders and the mark of this ancestry.These sorts are increasingly rare with corporation farming.

Mishima island has high rainfall all year round which also developed tough feet. It's to be noted that cattle were primarily beasts of burden in Japan, carrying loads and sometimes people (only samurai could ride horses astride until Meiji changed this ruling), and helping with agriculture such as ploughing, harrowing, carrying, carting and sledding, as well as wild or free roaming cattle being useful for keeping country in good shape.

Buddhism was wide-spread in Japan and forbad the eating of flesh (although poultry, fish, eggs were exempt).  Buddhism as a religion was on Mishima. After Meiji (an Emperor) took over from the Shoguns in the late 1800's, eating meat became increasingly acceptable. Milking cattle was not part of Japanese culture, so these cattle were primarily small draught animals also used to keep country in order, and later, as beef producers. It all helps to explains their attributes and build. Draught animals have good shoulders, backs and all round strength. 

Sadly in 1672 the island's cattle were destroyed because of rinderpest. The island was restocked in the late 1600's with similar Japanese cattle. The population grew and became stable from the early 1700's. In the late 1800's and early 1900's trouble struck as people turned to other breeds on the other islands, then war destroyed so much - various such factors caused the population to decline alarmingly, being almost extinct by 1970. They were carefully brought back but are low in numbers still. 

The Mishima cattle mostly free roam on Mishima still. They have been the only breed ion the island for over 200 years. They're small - exactly like their ancestors - a very pure breed. Seven farms raise them. Having kept their traits, they're smaller than the other Wagyu breeds thus yield a smaller carcase, about 130k. They benefit from sea mists bringing minerals and trace elements to the island.

There are four sorts of Wagya in Japan: Shorthorn (Nihon Tankaku), Brown (Akage), Black (Kuroge) and Polled (Mukaku). In the west there are Red Wagyu and Black Wagya although it is good to see Mishima Wagyu identified as such now in Australia. Some are called Mishima in the USA but am not certain of their purity at this stage. Japan of course has other cattle breeds as well as Wagyu.

Breed traits: A beef breed. Ideal for conservation grazing too. Small, brown-black, narrow through, lean. Elegant and docile. Ideal for rough hill country and small holdings. Agile.

On rich pastures they turn into plump stocky animals like any other breef breed.

They were bred for hilly country and rough grazing over centuries, being good browers - ideal for conservation grazing to keep botanical diversity while maintaining some protection from wild fire by eating excess growth. This sort of living also gave them sound black feet and strong legs and good agility. It creates intelligence. Keeping them on flat rich pastures all their life, will change the breed. Pure Wagyu beef is superiour to a cross even with Angus.

Wagyu have marbled beef which became a craze in western restaurants once discovered, fat being the chief source of flavour and mouth feel. And it's known now that animal fat is not the health hazard once brandished by health departments. Perfectly ok to eat if from pastured (not feed-lot) animals. Mishima beef is extremely marbled. They're considered the best of all beef for eating, a great recommendation. The big prices gained will help ensure this breed's future, hopefully. Both genders are fully marbled all over.

Horned - small horns - although no standard shape seems to have been established - some are level with base and curve in, some go upward and out. In other words they aren't really developed to ward off bear or anything as the sticker (as it, stick in the enemy) shape is long gone. Horns are important in a breed for their well being, and tell the story of its past. Useful for tethering and most draught work. There were bear and wolves on the main Japanese islands but not Mishima as far as one can ascertain; the Japanese wolf is sadly now extinct. So horns for defense weren't really needed once they went to Mishima but were when the cattle were on the bigger islands in the centuries before that.

Organisation: none found here - Blackmore Wagyu is the only stud currently running this breed, it's an excellent website.

Additional Notes: There are many scholarly papers on the breeds of Japan and studies of Mishima cattle.

Source for some details and good paper: Cattle Genetic Resources in Japan: One Successful Crossbreeding Story and Genetic Diversity Erosion, by Mitsuru Minezawa.

Source for some details Mishima-Ushi: The Purest of All Wagyu

Website for an Austalian breeder BlackmoreWagyu

Page by Janet Lane, August 2022