[familyop]

"I hate to say it folks, but American beef is just too tough and chewy for most Japanese consumers."

Cattle farmers in western U.S. states (most of them retired corporates, movie stars and the like with fenced properties, erroneously calling themselves ranchers) have gone insane with environmentalism and other political correctness. Even their customers insist that tough, skinny, tasteless "grass-fed" beef is much better than grain-finished beef. It's all marketing with decisions driven by emotions rather than analytical thought.

[Ronin]

I vote my wallet. As I said, the typical US beef that you can get from the Supermarket is just too tough to eat as a steak, although it fries up well enough when sliced, spiced, marinated, and used in Chinese stir-fry style recipes.

On the other hand, Japanese rice-fed beef, although marbled like lace and tender enough to eat with a fork, has about as much flavor as bread dough, plus it’s crazy expensive.

Aussie beef grown for Japanese market splits the difference. Reasonably tender, good flavor, pricier than the US stuff and a bit harder to find, but nice if you can get it.