Tanaka competing with his calf in a “speed-drinking contest.” He often makes videos that clearly (and physically) illustrate the difference between cows and humans.
HYOGO, Nov. 2 – A Japanese wagyu beef breeder in Kami, Hyogo Prefecture, the town known as one of the producers of high-quality Tajima-brand beef, is actively sharing his warm views on wagyu and scenes from his daily life on a video-sharing website YouTube. Despite being a certified cattle hoof trimmer and a super-busy manager of the farm that also handles meat processing and direct sales, the 42-year-old cattleman has created over 240 “CowTube” videos so far. “I want to show the deep and rich part of the life of a cattleman,” he said.
“Hi, I’m Kazuma Tanaka from Tanaka Chikusan!”
His YouTube post always starts with this cheerful greeting. In some videos, he generously introduces his knowledge backed by his own experience, including how he resuscitates hypothermic calves or cuts hoofs of nervous cows.
Tanaka buys back carcass from meat centers and sells them at his own meat shop. His 33-year-old wife, Atsumi (left), cuts and packs the meat for sale.
Tanaka also chooses more accessible themes like “wagyu taste-off” and “taste of wagyu milk” to answer consumers’ questions by abundantly providing his professional perspectives. Some of his posts are so amusing that they make people keep coming back to his posts that include an “experiment” to see “if cows really get excited when they see something red” and “speed-drinking competition” between him and a baby calf.
“I’m trying to make sure that all the contents sound right to professionals and simple and not-too-professional to all viewers,” said Tanaka. That way, he’s successfully created fans across various fields, from producers to consumers, with more than 110,000 views on the most popular content on his channel. Tanaka started his farm in 2002 after taking training locally in Kami. He became active on the Internet with a blog he launched around the same time. Now, he is a very skillful handler of social networking services, including Twitter and Instagram.
The “links and support” developed through the posts on the Internet has brought him new customers too, and one day, he sold the meat from one cow (350 servings) only in 8 minutes on the Internet.
Tanaka keeps 50 mother cows. His calves are highly rated and always priced higher than the market average.
Needless to say, he is a very professional breeder with authentic skills. “He is studious and manages calves well,” said Hiroyuki Tanaka (60), an official at a local agricultural cooperative, JA Tajima Mikata, who knows Kazuma Tanaka since he started farming. “He is always in the lists of the best breeders at the cattle shows. He takes good care of young farmers, too,” the official continued.
The man with around 40,000 SNS followers says, “I want to be a farmer who is always good to look at, and I want to show many people the fun part of cows.”