HANG OUT VOL.1

"Mountain"

Chapter 08

2024.09.13

Text：Takashi Sakurai

Edit：Suzuki Yusuke

Illustrator：Natsuko Yoneyama

HANG OUT VOL1

HANG OUT VOL.1"Mountain"

Be careful with mushrooms too!

Mushrooms are something you see while hiking in the mountains. Along with wild vegetables and pure water, they are one of the most edible blessings of the mountains, but you need to be careful of poisonous mushrooms. If you eat them, you could even lose your life, and apparently there are some that you shouldn't touch. But are they just dangerous?
If we change our perspective a little, we'll see that poisonous mushrooms are also indispensable in nature.

Chapter 08 | Be careful with mushrooms, too!

Acanthus maculatus
The initial symptoms are food poisoning of the digestive system, such as vomiting and diarrhea, followed by inhibition of protein synthesis, and in the second stage the kidneys and liver become spongy and the patient dies.

Even though it is simply called "mushroom".

Although the theme was poisonous mushrooms that hikers should be careful of, I think people who actually pick and eat mushrooms they don't know are pretty crazy...

"I've heard stories of people who are interested in the outdoors accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms at barbecue spots and such."

So says Professor Toshimitsu Fukiharu, a mushroom expert at the Chiba Prefectural Museum and Center. But to think that there are actually people who eat mushrooms growing nearby without any knowledge of them... Is it an "I'm an outdoor expert" mentality? It's true that there is an aspect to climbers who are knowledgeable about mushrooms, whether they're edible or poisonous, that makes them look cool.

"For example, there is a story about someone eating a poisonous mushroom called the Parasol mushroom at a campsite, and it is a really nasty-tasting mushroom. I was surprised that they managed to eat it."

There may be some accidents caused by eating in a showy way. The point is, don't get carried away just because you're in an extraordinary place. Furthermore, mushrooms vary greatly from one to another, so it's dangerous to make amateur judgments. There are many mushrooms that look like shimeji mushrooms but are actually poisonous.

"There are actually a surprising number of poisonous mushrooms. About 10% of the total are poisonous. There are around 2,500 named species of mushrooms known to exist in Japan, of which around 200 to 300 are poisonous. Highly poisonous mushrooms that will kill you account for around 1% of the total. That's about 1 in 100 mushrooms. It also varies greatly depending on the region and the vegetation of the forest. To begin with, only around 30% of mushrooms native to Japan have names. Even among the large ones found around there, around 70% are likely to be nameless. That's why the poisonous mushrooms I've listed this time are restricted to beech forests, based on references such as the Shinetsu Trail."

Bitter melon
As its name suggests, it has a bitter taste and is easily mistaken for the edible chestnut mushroom. About three hours after eating it, symptoms include severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. There have also been confirmed cases of death.

You can't judge by appearance so knowledge is important.

They are the fly agaric, the poisonous mushroom, the matsutake mushroom, and the matsutake mushroom. Some of them are mushrooms that I saw when I walked the Shinetsu Trail.

"In coniferous forests, we have species such as the Japanese quince. Then there's the fly agaric, which grows in forests where a phenomenon called oak wilt occurs, in which beech trees die."

I occasionally see warning signs about this fly agaric on low mountain areas. They say it is dangerous to touch it, let alone eat it, but is this true?

"In terms of toxicity, it is the most poisonous mushroom found in Japan. The lethal dose is just three grams. There was a fatal accident in the 1990s when a guest staying at a bed and breakfast got drunk and ate it as a test of courage. The reason you shouldn't touch it is because the poison has been found to contain components that cause skin blisters. However, I have never heard of any actual accidents occurring. According to specialists, it's not so much that you shouldn't touch it, but that you should never bite into it.

The fly agaric is a poisonous Asian mushroom that was described as a new species by a French mycologist at the end of the 19th century based on specimens from Tibet. In Japan, it was previously an extremely rare mushroom that grew in environments similar to virgin forests, but with the recent decline of oak trees, it has become widely seen in human settlements. However, it still seems to be quite difficult to encounter.

The deep world of poisonous mushrooms. We will also ask about other poisonous mushrooms such as Tsukiyotake, Doktomatsutake, and Nigatake.

"Tsukiyotake are really cool. They're glowing mushrooms, and apparently they're delicious. But they cause severe vomiting and diarrhea after eating. In fact, this mushroom appears in the Tales of the Past and Present. The story goes that because of their similar shape and ecology, they were often mistaken for the delicious edible oyster mushroom, and so Tsukiyotake was used to poison a monk who was a superior.

It is interesting to note that over 1,000 years ago, people began to use mushrooms while wondering whether they were poisonous or edible. This episode shows just how long the Japanese have had a relationship with mushrooms.

"The poisonous Acanthus is another cool poisonous mushroom. However, its toxicity is so strong that it is said that eating one will kill you. The initial symptoms are food poisoning of the digestive system, with vomiting and diarrhea, but the symptoms subside after that. However, once the poison has been absorbed, protein synthesis is inhibited, and the second stage of symptoms is when the kidneys and liver become spongy and the person dies. Naturally, they are hospitalized, but they gradually become weaker and suffer, and die after a week to ten days."

Just imagining it is a painful way to die... There are scary stories of families dying from eating it by mistake, and it is one of the most deadly poisonous mushrooms in Japan. In Europe and the US, it is feared and called the "Angel of Death."

"As its name suggests, the bitter taste of the bitter mushroom is quite easy to mistake for the edible chestnut mushroom, but if you put one in your mouth you will be able to tell by the taste. If it tastes bitter, do not swallow it and spit it out immediately. About three hours after eating it, you will experience symptoms such as severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. There have been confirmed cases of death from eating it."

Tsukiyotake
A glowing mushroom. It is said to taste good, but eating it will cause severe vomiting and diarrhea. It has been mistaken for an edible oyster mushroom, and appears in the Konjaku Monogatari.

Mushrooms from the human perspective and from the natural world.

So, what is the best thing to do if you do eat a poisonous mushroom?

"The best thing to do is to go to a doctor right away, bring the mushroom you ate with you, tell them you ate it, and let them know you have mushroom food poisoning. And it's important to throw up what you ate. If it's absorbed, that's it. If you're on the mountain, there may be nothing you can do."

I understand the fear, but how can you tell if a mushroom is poisonous?

"There are no rules like poisonous mushrooms having horns or bright colors. There are huge individual differences, so you have to memorize them just like you would memorize a person's face. If you lined up five illustrated guidebooks, the same mushrooms would all have different faces."

The more we learn about poisonous mushrooms, the more frightening they seem...but according to Professor Fukiharu, this would be a shame for the poisonous mushrooms.

"Even when we say poisonous mushrooms, that only applies to humans. I'm a little reluctant to villainize them just because humans happen to be inedible. Mushrooms use their hyphae to build networks between plants in the forest. In addition to the physical flow of nutrients that occurs through symbiosis, there is a recent theory that some kind of information is exchanged through the hyphae."

If a tree becomes sick, the disease is transmitted through mycelium, allowing other trees to take measures and develop resistance. If this is true, mushrooms are part of the forest's infrastructure, and play the role of brain cells and the nervous system in humans.

"The poisonous mushrooms I introduced this time also decompose dead trees and return them to the soil, and they build networks by connecting symbiotic plants with mycelium, so they all benefit the forest."

Listening to Professor Fukiharu's talk, who is full of love for mushrooms, my perspective on poisonous mushrooms has changed a little. On a global scale, they are much more useful than humans. Mushrooms can be seen everywhere when walking along a trail. If you pay more attention to the profound world hidden behind them, you will be able to understand nature even more deeply. However, it is absolutely not okay to eat them without any knowledge!

Fly agaric
In terms of toxicity, it is the most poisonous mushroom found in Japan. The lethal dose is only 3 grams, and it has recently become common in forests where a phenomenon called oak wilt, in which beech trees die, is occurring.

PROFILE

Toshimitsu Fukiharu

Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1959, he graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture at Kyoto University with a PhD in Agriculture. He is known as the mushroom expert at the Chiba Prefectural Museum and Center, having written books such as "Compare and Understand Mushrooms" and "Handy Illustrated Guide to Delicious and Poisonous Mushrooms," and supervised "Mycophilia: A Love of Mushrooms."

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