# Japanese Polled > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Japanese_Polled > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Japanese_Polled.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Polled > Source revision: 1329503625 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Japanese breed of cattle}} {{use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{use list-defined references|date=January 2017}} {{Use British English|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox cattle breed | name = Japanese Polled | image = Japanese Polled = 世界の牛 無角和種（雄） (35896549093) (cropped).jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = Bull | image2 = Japanese Polled = 世界の牛 無角和種（雌） (36706365055) (cropped).jpg | image_size2 = | image_alt2 = | image_caption2= Cow | status = [FAO](/source/FAO) (2007): critical | altname = {{ubl|{{langx|ja|無角和種}}|Mukaku Washu|Japanese Poll}} | country = Japan | distribution = [Yamaguchi Prefecture](/source/Yamaguchi_Prefecture) | standard = | use = beef | weight = | maleweight = | femaleweight = | height = | maleheight = | femaleheight = | skincolour = | coat = black{{r|dad}} | horn = [polled](/source/polled_(livestock)) (hornless) in both sexes | subspecies = taurus | note = }} The '''Japanese Polled''' ({{langx|ja|無角和種}}, Mukaku Washu) is an endangered Japanese [breed](/source/list_of_cattle_breeds) of small [beef cattle](/source/beef_cattle). It is one of six native Japanese cattle breeds,{{r|dad2}} and one of the four Japanese breeds known as [wagyū](/source/wagy%C5%AB), the others being the [Japanese Black](/source/Japanese_Black), the [Japanese Brown](/source/Japanese_Brown) and the [Japanese Shorthorn](/source/Japanese_Shorthorn).{{r|aajas|page=420}} All wagyū cattle derive from [cross-breeding](/source/cross-breeding) in the early twentieth century of native Japanese cattle with imported stock, mostly from Europe.{{r|ass|page=5}} In the case of the Japanese Polled, the principal foreign influence was from the Scottish [Aberdeen Angus](/source/Aberdeen_Angus) breed.{{r|dad}} == History == Cattle were brought to Japan from China at the same time as the [cultivation of rice](/source/cultivation_of_rice), in about the second century AD, in the [Yayoi period](/source/Yayoi_period).{{r|cabi|page=209}} Until about the time of the [Meiji Restoration](/source/Meiji_Restoration) in 1868, they were used only as [draught animal](/source/draught_animal)s, in [agriculture](/source/agriculture), [forestry](/source/forestry), [mining](/source/mining) and for transport, and as a source of [fertiliser](/source/manure). Milk consumption was unknown, and – for cultural and religious reasons – meat was not eaten. Cattle were highly prized and valuable, too expensive for a poor farmer to buy.{{r|ass|page=2}} Japan was effectively isolated from the rest of the world from 1635 until 1854; there was no possibility of intromission of foreign genes to the cattle population during this time. Between 1868, the year of the Meiji Restoration, and 1887, some 2600 foreign cattle were imported. At first there was little interest in cross-breeding these with native stock, but from about 1900 it became widespread. It ceased abruptly in 1910, when it was realised that, while the cross-breeds might be larger and have better dairy qualities, their working capacity and meat quality was lower. From 1919, the various [heterogeneous](/source/Homogeneity_and_heterogeneity) regional populations that resulted from this brief period of cross-breeding were registered and [selected](/source/selective_breeding) as "Improved Japanese Cattle". Four separate strains were characterised, based mainly on which type of foreign cattle had most influenced the hybrids, and were recognised as breeds in 1944. These were the four [wagyū](/source/wagy%C5%AB) breeds, the Japanese Polled, the [Japanese Black](/source/Japanese_Black), the [Japanese Brown](/source/Japanese_Brown) and the [Japanese Shorthorn](/source/Japanese_Shorthorn).{{r|ass|page=8}} The Japanese Polled developed in south-western [Honshu](/source/Honshu), in the [prefecture](/source/prefectures_of_Japan) of [Yamaguchi](/source/Yamaguchi_Prefecture). The principal foreign influence was from Scottish the [Aberdeen Angus](/source/Aberdeen_Angus).{{r|ass|page=8}} The [conservation status](/source/conservation_status) of the Japanese Polled was listed by the [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations](/source/Food_and_Agriculture_Organization_of_the_United_Nations) as "critical" in 2007.{{r|barb|page=71}} In 1978 the total population was reported to be 2242; in 2008 it was 132.{{r|dad}} Although not at risk of immediate extinction, the breed is in need of emergency measures for its protection. The Japanese Polled Public Corporation has been set up by the administration of Yamaguchi Prefecture to protect and preserve the breed and its [genetic resources](/source/Germplasm).{{r|fao|page=45}} == Characteristics == The Japanese Polled is black; both sexes are naturally [polled](/source/Polled_livestock), without horns.{{r|dad}} == References == {{commonscat}} T. Muramoto, M. Higashiyama, T. Kondo (2005). [http://ajas.info/upload/pdf/18_66.pdf Effect of pasture finishing on beef quality of Japanese Polled steers]. ''Asian-Australian Journal of Animal Science''. '''18''': 420-426. Kiyoshi Namikawa (2016 [1992]). [https://web.archive.org/web/20161127214623/https://ansci.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/386/2016/08/BreedingHistoryofJapaneseBeefCattle.pdf Breeding history of Japanese beef cattle and preservation of genetic resources as economic farm animals]. Kyoto: Wagyu Registry Association. Archived 27 November 2016. Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). [https://books.google.it/books?id=2UEJDAAAQBAJ&hl=en ''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''] (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{isbn|9781780647944}}. [https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=JPN&specie=Cattle&breed=Japanese%20Poll Breed data sheet: Japanese Poll / Japan (Cattle)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2025. [http://dad.fao.org/cgi-bin/EfabisWeb.cgi?sid=09b0652f6097530984c308f3bb64921d,reportsreport12_50000150_50000024 Breeds reported by Japan: Cattle]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed January 2017. [Editorial Committee Office of the Japanese Country Report, Animal Genetic Resources Laboratory, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Japan] ([n.d.]). [https://web.archive.org/web/20121015214438/http://www.fao.org/AG/AGAInfo/programmes/en/genetics/documents/Interlaken/countryreports/Japan.pdf Country Report (For FAO State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources Process)]; annex to: Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 15 October 2012. {{Cattle breeds of Japan}} Category:Beef cattle breeds Category:Cattle breeds originating in Japan {{bots|deny=Citation bot}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Japanese Polled](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Polled) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Polled?action=history)). 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