Shigemaru

Shigemaru was one of the three Akaushi bulls in the pivotal 1994 importation, the second and final export of Akaushi from Japan, that established HeartBrand Beef's herd. The cattle were selected in Kumamoto Prefecture and purchased by Dr. Al and Marie Wood of Englewood Farm, Texas, then shipped in the Japanese-American joint venture alongside a band of elite red females; this Akaushi foundation came through the Woods and HeartBrand, not Takeda (a common error). A paternal brother to the celebrated cow-maker Namimaru, Shigemaru is prized by breeders as the most versatile of the founder sires, the bull used to make Akaushi cattle 'more dimensional,' improving balance, structure and overall carcass quality rather than a single trait. Sired by Dai-Ni 2 Shigenami Tokkyu 27 out of Dai-Yon 4 Akibare Tokkyu 3357, he is recorded as an F11 carrier. His son Samsung had one of the longest tenures as a herd bull in HeartBrand history, noted for feet and leg design, fertility and progeny quality. Because only three bulls and a small band of females founded the entire American Akaushi population, Shigemaru's genetics are foundational and heavily leveraged, and he remains a benchmark sire for well-rounded Kumamoto Akaushi blood.