Kobe Keizai News — The Kobe Municipal Government held a ceremony on the 4th at a hotel in the city to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Kobe City Central Wholesale Market’s Seibu Market (Nagata Ward, Kobe), a meat market established by the city. The market is nationally rare for specializing in high-grade Japanese Black cattle, and is regarded as the “home” of Kobe Beef and Tajima Beef, both produced from Hyogo Prefecture–bred cattle. The market also handles pork, with a high proportion of top-grade products such as Kobe Pork. The ceremony was co-hosted with Kobe Chuo Livestock Consignment Co. (Nagata Ward, Kobe), which was established as a wholesaler when the market first opened.

In his greeting as market founder, Kobe Mayor Kizo Hisamoto stated, “Kobe Beef is an international brand. Since Kobe Airport became an international airport in April, the number of visitors to Japan has increased significantly. We hope that more people will have the opportunity to enjoy meat products supplied from Seibu Market, including Kobe Pork and Kobe Beef.” He added, “We will continue improving environmental conditions and focus on securing and developing human resources so that the market can reliably fulfill its role in providing safe and secure meat.”

During the ceremony, individuals and companies who made outstanding contributions to the market’s operations, as well as long-serving employees, were honored. The event also included award presentations for two related occasions: THE KOBE BEEF FESTA 2025 held on September 29 to mark the market’s 60th anniversary, and the 16th Kobe City Seibu Market Branded Wagyu Show held on October 3. At THE KOBE BEEF FESTA, a heifer exhibited by Katsunori Ota of Yabu City fetched the top “Honorary Award” price of ¥5,330,220 before tax (¥12,005 per kilogram of carcass). At the Branded Wagyu Show, a heifer exhibited by Mitsunobu Takahashi of Kanonji City, Kagawa Prefecture, achieved the “Honorary Award” top price of ¥4.52 million before tax (¥10,000 per kilogram).