High grade wagyu can cost up to $200 per pound, and the cows themselves can sell for as much as $30,000.

These cows were bred for physical endurance, giving them more intramuscular fat cells.

The fat is distributed more evenly throughout their muscle, which is why wagyu beef looks pink and tastes so tender.

The fattening farmer will keep the animals in small pens and feed them a mixture of fiber and high energy concentrate made from rice, wheat and hay.

They're often fed this three times a day for almost two years until the animals are almost 50% fat, the length of the fattening process and the import prices of the huge amount of concentrated feed increases the cost of the beef and over this fattening period each cow will eat five tons of feed.