I had the pleasure of visiting the Agri-Innovation Education and Research Centre at Akita Prefectural University to sample some milk from Japanese Shorthorn cattle. They are producing and marketing their pasture-raised beef under the “Gatabeko” brand. It is quite rare to find beef from pasture-raised Wagyu, particularly when it is not derived from the Japanese Black breed.
November 2025 archive
Nov 04
Halloween
On October 31st, we cooked takoyaki* for Halloween. It was delicious, and the decorations were lovely. *: a popular Japanese street food consisting of bite-sized wheat-flour balls filled with octopus. They are cooked in a specialized molded pan and served with savory sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes, and seaweed.


