- Food
- Shiga
Omi Beef

Omi beef, the oldest brand beef in Japan with over 400 years of history
Now popular around the world, Japanese wagyu beef consists of over 200 brands, and Omi, Matsuzaka and Kobe are renowned as the top three wagyu brands. Omi beef is a Japanese Black cattle raised in the rich natural environment and waters of Shiga Prefecture. With a fine texture and sweet flavored fat, the tender meat is best enjoyed as sukiyaki or shabu-shabu hot pot dishes.
Cultivated in the best environment with loving care
Omi beef cattle are nurtured with loving care by producers in Shiga Prefecture, blessed with a rich natural environment and known for the quality waters flowing from the mountains surrounding Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan. Shiga Prefecture has established a cyclical system that is both environmentally and people-friendly, and many producers raise the cattle with safe, domestically produced feeds such as Omi rice straws. Grown in the best environment with excellent feeding techniques and meticulous care, Omi beef is famous for its delicious flavor and fine fat, brimming with pleasant sweetness and mellow aroma.
Matsukiya, the original Omi beef sukiyaki restaurant
Founded in 1883 in Tokyo, Matsukiya was the first Omi beef sukiyaki restaurant, and at the time the shop name was synonymous with the tasty hot pot dish. For three generations of emperors from Meiji (1868-1912) to Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1989) eras, Matsukiya held the royal warrant of the Imperial Household Agency as supplier of Omi beef. Today, the restaurant's premium beef can be enjoyed in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, in a variety of dishes such as steak, sukiyaki and shabu-shabu.
Location
Name | Omi Beef |
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Website | https://en.biwako-visitors.jp/spot/eat/38![]() |
Address | 14-17 Karahashi-cho, Otsu-shi, Shiga |
Access | Approximately 8 minutes' walk from Ishiyama Station on the JR Biwako Line Just outside of Karahashi-mae Station on the Keihan Electric Railway |
Inquiries | TEL: 077-534-1211 |