What is halal?

Halal, often used in reference to food, in Arabic means permissible or lawful. It is food allowed for Muslims to eat under Islamic Law.

There are specific guidelines to the ritual slaughter of an animal. First, it must be alive and the stunning before slaughter is not allowed. A sharp knife is used to cut straight through the throat so to kill the animal instantly all while a Muslim recites a prayer dedicating the slaughter to Allah. Finally, the animal must be hung upside down and bled dry for eating blood is not halal. All facilities and equipment used in slaughter houses and processing plants MUST be halal certified.

As the host for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Japan has been taking strong measures to better accommodate Muslim visitors. But not only is Muslim tourism growing but the Muslim world is also in demand of halal certified Japanese products. In 2014, Hyogo Prefecture specifically drew a supplementary budget to allocate to both tourism and halal certification to meet these demands.

Kobe Shimbun February, 2014 article


What is halal Kobe Beef?

As mentioned in (2) of Defintion of Kobe Beef, the criteria has now changed to "a halal certified slaughterhouse in Hyogo Pref.,” making it even more difficult to obtain the meat from the Tajima bull that it can truly be called Halal Kobe Beef. It is important for our customers to understand that, for this reason, the amount of Halal Kobe Beef that can be sold is more limited than Kobe Beef itself. That is why we are proud to be the only retailer to sell Halal Kobe Beef at this time.

A reference link: What is Kobe Beef?


And only after Halal Certification [mentioned above] is given to the slaughter house and after passing strict Kobe Beef guidelines [mentioned right]; can it finally be called HALAL KOBE BEEF.

Halal Kobe Beef: The Process from start to finish and the companies involved

Halal Certification: Sanda Shokuniku Kosha Internal Halal Committee (HALAL SANDA)

This certification body founded by Muslims who are engaged in slaughter operations at the Sanda Shokuniku Kosha, the slaughterhouse.

All of them have Halal slaughter licenses issued by the Japan Islamic Trust (JIT) and the Muslim Professional Japan Association (MPJA).

Slaughtering: Sanda Meat Corp. (Sanda Shokuniku Kosha)

Sanda Meat Corp., under halal guidelines and certification, are responsible for all slaughtering of our Tajima cow, which becomes what the world knows as Kobe Beef. At the present time, Sanda Meat Corp. is the only slaughterhouse in Hyogo pref. to have halal certification.

2014/Aug/14|Halal Certification by ICJ acquired
2014/Oct/09|ISO22000:2005 acquired
2016/Jan/18|Halal Certification by ESMA, UAE acquired
2017/OCT/12|Halal Certification by MUI, Indonesia acquired

Cut and Retailer: Tatsuya Co., Ltd.

TATSUYA has been specializing in Kobe Beef for a little over a hundred years and we are very proud to still call Kobe our home. Online ordering has become the norm these days but TATSUYA has been there from the very start. We were the few butcher shops in Japan to sell high quality Kobe Beef online since early 90's; because of this, our long history, experience in Kobe Beef, and most importantly trust from our customers was the reason why we were specifically chosen to be the first ever butcher shop to sell Halal Kobe Beef.

Cutting is done under the supervision of "HALAL SANDA".

Concerning all orders of Halal Kobe Beef through Tatsuya

All orders will include:

神戸肉之証

Kobe Beef Certificate

Halal certificate issued by

HALAL SANDA (Internal Halal Committee)


Halal logo seal

Product common standard

  • Packaged frozen. Then stored in a completely separate freezer from all non-Halal products. PLEASE BE AWARE: Although we are a butcher shop we do not handle the processing concerning our Halal Kobe Beef. All comes packaged and ready to sell from our contracted processing plant.
  • Current stock being sold: Date of Expiration Dec/2023 (under -18゜C)
  • These Kobe Beef were NOT fed beer or any alcohol-related feed.