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Kagoshima Berkshire
Conservation status	FAO (2007): not at risk
Country of origin	Japan
Distribution	Kagoshima prefecture
Use	meat
Traits
Skin colour	black
Hair	black
	Pig; Sus domesticus;

The Kagoshima Berkshire, Japanese: かごしま黒豚, is a Japanese breed of domestic pig found in Kagoshima prefecture in south-western Japan. It derives from the Berkshire breed of pig of the United Kingdom, which was imported to Japan from the 1860s and is now widespread there. The Kagoshima Berkshire apparently descends from two British Berkshire pigs brought to Japan in the 1930s.^[2]^: 629^[3] Meat from this breed may be marketed under the brand name "Kurobuta", meaning "black pig".^[2]^: 629 Pork from Kagoshima Berkshire pigs constitutes approximately 2% of the total annual production in Japan. The meat is considered tender and flavoursome; it is a premium product, in demand throughout the country.^[2]^: 629

History

Until about the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, meat was rarely eaten in Japan, for cultural, economic, and religious reasons.^[4]^: 2 British Berkshire pigs were imported to the former Kagoshima Domain, now Kagoshima Prefecture, from the 1860s onwards and are still numerous there.^[2]^: 629

The Kagoshima Berkshire is regarded as a distinct breed, and apparently descends from two British Berkshire pigs brought to the country in the 1930s.^[2]^: 629^[3] It is reared only in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan.^[2]^: 629 In the latter twentieth century, competition from productive foreign breeds led to a decline in production. In 1961 almost all the pigs in the prefecture, some 240000, were of the Kagoshima Berkshire breed; by 1965 the number had fallen to 213000, or about 83% of the total, and by 1975 to 12600, or 1.6% of the total pig population. Numbers have since increased; in 2000 there were over 278000 of the breed, constituting 13.6% of the total number of pigs in the prefecture.^[2]^: 629

In 2007 there were 215000 Kagoshima Berkshire; there were also some 330000 "English" Berkshire pigs in the whole country.^[2]^: 629

References

^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
^ ^a ^b Breed data sheet: Kagoshima Berkshire / Japan (Pig). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2020.
^ Kiyoshi Namikawa (2016 [1992]). Breeding history of Japanese beef cattle and preservation of genetic resources as economic farm animals. Kyoto: Wagyu Registry Association. Accessed January 2017.

Kagoshima Berkshire

History

References

Further reading