Major Japanese fast-food restaurant chain Yoshinoya will start serving US beef in the middle of this month, joining the trickle of eateries here to put US beef back on their menus since Tokyo eased an import ban in July, a company official said.
But a shortage of US beef imports meant the Tokyo-based Yoshinoya D&C Co can only offer its trademark beef bowl -- a serving of hot rice topped with slices of US beef -- for just one day on Sept. 18, according to the general manager of a Tokyo outlet who refused to be named, saying he was unauthorized to speak to media ahead of an official company announcement next week.
Yoshinoya, which has 1,010 outlets across Japan, will serve about a million servings that day, but a shortage of imports means it could be weeks before Yoshinoya can put the beef bowl back on its regular menu, he said.
PHOTO: AFP
US beef has been slowly making a comeback in Japan since the two countries resumed the beef trade in July, ending a two-and-a-half-year ban.
Earlier this week, barbecue restaurant chain Zenshoku Co in western Japan began serving US beef, becoming the first Japanese eatery to do so. On Friday, regional supermarket operator Nalx became the first retailer in the country to put US beef back on its store shelves.
But many Japanese remain worried about the safety of US beef, despite repeated assurances from US beef producers and officials over the safety of their products. In recent public polls, the majority of Japanese consumers said they're reluctant to buy US beef.
The only other retailer currently carrying US beef is Costco, run by the Japanese unit of US warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. The chain is selling US beef in five of its stores.
Major Japanese supermarket chains have taken a wait-and-see approach, with even Seiyu Ltd, the Japanese unit of US retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc, holding off on resuming US beef sales.
Tokyo banned US beef imports in December 2003 after the discovery of mad cow disease in a US herd. It eased the ban in December last year only to reinstate it a month later when prohibited spinal bones were found in a US veal shipment.
Japan lifted the blanket ban in July, but only allowed meat from calves under 21 months with brains, spines and other parts thought to be at risk, removed.
Mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, is a brain-degenerative disease in cattle. In humans, eating meat contaminated with BSE has been linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare but deadly nerve disease.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares