Cash strapped universities in Japan have taken to raising and growing food to bolster income as student intake falls steadily each year owing to the country’s shrinking child population.


The nation’s top department store Mitsukoshi is now selling Kobe University-brand beef, while Kinki University in Osaka is selling its own brand of tuna, which it raises on campus from eggs.


Meat from two Tajima beef cows (Japanese black cattle) – reared at Kobe University’s Food Resources Education and Research Centre – are said to be selling well. The highest-priced cut, steak tenderloin, considered to be among the best beef in the world, is priced at ¥4,200 (£36.67) per 100g.

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