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.

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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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