Hikari

Hikari was the third of the three Akaushi bulls in the 1994 importation, the second and final Akaushi export from Japan that founded HeartBrand Beef's herd. The animals were chosen in Kumamoto Prefecture and purchased by Dr. Al and Marie Wood of Englewood Farm, Texas, arriving in the Japanese-American joint-venture shipment together with the bulls Shigemaru and Tamamaru and a band of elite red females, confirming that the American Akaushi foundation came via the Woods and HeartBrand, not Takeda. Hikari's contribution is decidedly maternal: breeders value him because his sons pass on calving ease while his daughters excel in milk production, making him a foundation source of the fertility, udder quality and easy-fleshing females that anchor commercial Akaushi programs. His sire line is especially prestigious, tracing to Dai-Ju 10 Mitsumaru KO 76, counted among Japan's most elite Akaushi bulls, out of the dam Kazutomo 1KYU 92958; he is recorded as an F11 carrier. With only three bulls seeding the entire U.S. Akaushi population, Hikari's genetics run deep through pedigrees registered with both the American Wagyu Association and the Akaushi Association of America. For breeders prioritizing maternal strength, milk and trouble-free calving, Hikari is the founder sire of choice.