The Japanese Cattle industry has been undergoing major changes for the past three decades. During the 1950's and 1960's mechanized power rapidly. The process of beef industry structure change accelerated in the 1970's as medium scale feedlots came into being, regional packing plants were established, and the beef marketing system matured. Economic forces, both within and external to the industry. A major objective of this book is to test the authors' hypothesis that beef production by Japan's cattle industry could become competitive with imported beef.