Shiitake mushroom is an indispensable ingredient for washoku, or Japanese cuisine, adding umami to the dish. They can be bought either fresh or dried. Safe, delicious and chemical-free, Japanese dried shiitake are growing in popularity abroad. Mostly produced in Oita Prefecture in the southern island of Kyushu, dried shiitake are cultivated by inoculating spores into logs of sawtooth oak, and left in the forests to slowly grow. Shiitake needs sunlight to grow, so the surrounding trees must be regularly thinned and cared for, helping conserve the forest ecosystem along the way.
VIDEO BY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPAN
