Tottori Wagyu and the Birthplace of Japan's Beef Hot Pot

Tottori sits in the San'in region, an area with a long history of raising black cattle for both draft labor and beef, though the dish itself is generally traced to Yokohama's beef-eating boom during the Meiji era, when beef eating first spread nationally, rather than to Tottori specifically. Today 'Tottori Wagyu' is a formally branded beef product, graded on the same marbling and quality scales used for more famous names, but produced in far smaller volumes, so it rarely leaves the prefecture.

Locally, Tottori Wagyu shows up less as a showcase steak and more as a hot pot ingredient, sliced thin and simmered with negi, tofu, and shirataki noodles in a soy-and-sugar broth similar to sukiyaki, then dipped in raw egg. Because supply is limited, menus offering it change seasonally and availability at any given restaurant is inconsistent, so it's worth asking locally or checking current stock rather than planning a trip solely around it.