The history of mushrooms as medicine and food in Japan

Abstract

　Japan has a long history, dating back to the Nara Period, in which nobility and common people have used mushrooms as medicine and food. Here I report a survey of articles about mushrooms appearing in herbal and history books, novels, diaries of the court nobles, and temples records. I record the names and uses of edible mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms. Some antidotal methods found in herbal and medical books of the Edo Period are described and discussed.