Bidding Customs and Habitat Improvement for Matsutake (Tricholoma matsutake) in Japan

Abstract

Bidding Customs and Habitat Improvement for Matsutake (Tricholoma matsutake) in Japan. A brief history of Japan's matsutake production, use, and management is presented, with emphasis on habitat improvement efforts and the land use tradition of iriai. Bidding systems for allotment of matsutake gathering rights are discussed. Three villages with different bidding systems are compared to see what effects the bidding systems have on village finances, matsutake production, and matsutake habitat enhancement. Contrary to expectations, habitat for matsutake was not improved when land owners were guaranteed the gathering and selling rights to matsutake growing on their own lands. Instead, habitat improvement was most successful and matsutake production was highest on community-owned lands in Oka Village, where the iriai tradition is strongest.

Livelihood and Conservation Aspects of Non-wood Forest Product Collection in the Shaxi Valley, Southwest China1

“…Among the collected mushrooms, Tricholoma matsutake ranks foremost in economic importance. It is mainly exported to Japan, where in 2006 average prices for imported matsutake were about USD 45/kg (Saito and Mitsumata 2008). Prices fluctuate strongly during the collection season, with peaks in May and June at the beginning of the main collecting season, as well as to a smaller degree at the end of the main collecting season in November and December, with people complaining that prices had generally declined in recent years.…”

The Houses That Matsutake Built1

“…12). Other factors that may adversely impact matsutake production include aging forests (matsutake associated with pine in Japan and Korea peak in numbers when the trees are 40-50 years old before declining), a build-up of brush or an increase in shade (Hosford et al 1997;Ogawa 1982;Saito and Mitsumata 2008), and systemic causes such as pollution (Arnolds 1991) or climate change (Martínez-Carrera et al 2002). Conversely, judicious thinning of older forests can significantly increase both the numbers and diversity of ectomycorrhizal mushrooms (Egli and Ayer 2007).…”

‘The tragedy of the commons’ by underuse: toward a conceptual framework based on ecosystem services and satoyama perspective

“…Another example is matsutake mushrooms (Tricholoma matsutake) (Saito and Mitsumata 2008). Forests of Japanese red pine, which used to be widespread in areas surrounding settlements, have been thinned repeatedly for centuries by villagers cutting trees and undergrowth shrubs and collecting fallen leaves for fuel and/or fertilizer, a practice that favored the growth of matsutake mushrooms.…”