During the 2 years I spent living, working, and studying in Japan, I had the opportunity to visit forests around Honshu, on Hokkaido, and Shikoku. South Korea has a very rich ecosystem and Korean people are vey enthusiastic about mushroom picking.
Sorak San, a park in northern South Korea.
By the river near Sorak San.
In the forested areas near Ibaragi-ken where I lived, there were several genera of mushrooms I was familiar with: Suillus, Peziza, Morel, and Cortinarius.
In the rural areas of Japan, temples were reservoirs of biodiversity. This Reishi mushroom emerged and attracted a flurry of admirers until the monks decided it was no longer alive and picked it to bring it in and place it on a shrine. One of them replaced the mushroom in the ground near where it emerged so that I could take this picture.
A Korean temple.
Larry and stone grandfather on Chejudo island.
Just down the road from my little 4plex was a shiitake farm. Shiia is the name for Japanese oak. "Ta-ke" means little brother. So, shiitake is oaks' little pal.
Ganoderma lucidum cultivated at the mushroom farm near my home in Ibaragi-ken. These were sold as medicine for over $100 a container, in 1985 prices.
The grower would toss his spent logs in this pile back in the woods, where they continued to produce a few mushrooms, and since all the locals knew about it there were no fresh shiitake for sale in the local shops!
Not many mushrooms in downtown Tokyo; I even had to respect the dandelions that were tough enough to grow through the pavement there. But in the department stores, you can find Matsutake! This little packet was worth around a hundred bucks US.
You can see the difference in the white North American matsutake (matsu=pine, take=mushroom) and the darker cap of the Japanese and Korean specimens. Korea is now or has been the leading exporter of matsutake in the world. Apparently chainlink fences enclose the plantations where these exquisite mushrooms are grown, and entire villages of pickers live inside the fenced forest.
These Amanita cesaria like mushrooms are considered a delicacy in the Korean cuisine. In different areas they are roasted or stir-fried. The nut like flavor is sublime. Of course, related Amanitas can kill you. Get it right.
This is near where we found the Amanita cesaria.
