And finally… beefed up

Farmers are worried that smugglers are ramping up efforts to bring wagyu cattle to China in defiance of a two-decade export ban.

Three men were convicted last year of smuggling wagyu cattle semen from Osaka to Shanghai.

However, they were charged with breaking quarantine hygiene laws because there was no more specific offence, The Times reports.

The Japanese government is now considering plans to criminalise the overseas transfer of genetic material from Japanese cattle.