I have tasted kobe beef and quite like it but know nothing about it. Is it a different type of cow?
I've never had it, but at one time, in Japan, that cattle were workhorses used in agriculture, forestry, and mining instead of for meat.
So do you think the meat would be usually more tougher then normal cow meat?
Probably.  That was the only type of cattle in Japan until the late 1800s, then new cattle was imported and cross-breeded with the native stock. Maybe that helped.
So it is becoming more popular in the west now?
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the "vaquero" traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance and legend. A subtype, called a wrangler, specifically tends the horses used to work cattle. In addition to ranch work, some cowboys work for or participate in rodeos. Cowgirls, first defined as such in
Kobe beef
Kobe beef is also called , or in Japanese.
History.
Cattle were brought to Japan from China at the same time as the cultivation of rice, in about the second century AD, in the Yayoi period. Until about the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, they were used only as draught animals, in agriculture, forestry, mining and for transport, and as a source of fertiliser. Milk consumption was unknown, and – for cultural and religious reasons – meat was not eaten.