Japan shaped much of how the world eats mushrooms. It pioneered and scaled cultivation of shiitake, enoki, shimeji, maitake, and nameko, and it elevated the wild matsutake to an almost ceremonial autumn delicacy whose price and aroma signal the season. Mushrooms permeate the cuisine — in dashi, nabe hot pots, takikomi rice, and grilled preparations — and the cultivation know-how developed here underpins specialty growing globally.
Cultivated species year-round; wild matsutake peaks in autumn.