{"id":278,"date":"2018-10-29T16:45:51","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T07:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/wordpress_eng\/?p=278"},"modified":"2020-01-31T11:29:04","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T02:29:04","slug":"people-have-always-loved-the-matsutake-mushroom-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/?p=278","title":{"rendered":"People have always loved the Matsutake mushroom in Japan!"},"content":{"rendered":"

– \u201cThey say that monks send apprentices all the way to Mt. Hira for fetching their favorite foods, such as Matsutake, Hiratake, Enoki\/Nameko, Renkon that grows in ponds, Seri, Junsai, Gobo, Kohone, Udo, Warabi, Tsukushi, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This is from Volume 2 of the \u201cRyojin Hisho(\u300e\u6881\u5875\u79d8\u6284\u300f)\u201d poetry anthology, which was compiled in the late Heian period, collecting songs of the \u201cImayo(\u4eca\u69d8)\u201d style. This anthology covers diverse aspects of life of nobles, monks and common people.<\/p>\n

The quotation above is translated from one of the songs included in Ryojin Hisho, naming Matsutake before everything else as the favorite food of monks! It seems that the Matsutake mushroom has been loved as the most popular fall delicacy for more than 800 years.<\/p>\n

Did monks really love Matsutake so much? In fact, the Toji Hyakugo Archives contain many pieces of evidence of this.<\/p>\n

When fall came, Matsutake was delivered to Toji as land tax in early September (around October in the present calendar) every year. The document below is a letter attached to Matsutake that was sent from Yamatonokuni Hiranodonosho(\u5927\u548c\u56fd\u5e73\u91ce\u6bbf\u8358), which was located around Ikoma, Nara Prefecture:<\/p>\n

\"Yamatonokuni<\/a>
Item 10-3 of Box-YO (Katakana), \u201cYamatonokuni Hiranodonosho Azukaridokoro Joen Matsutake Soshinjo\u201d, dated September 27, 1259<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The letter says that they deliver 90 pieces of Matsutake as usual, and asks monks to offer them to Kobo Daishi(\u5f18\u6cd5\u5927\u5e2b) before dividing among monks. Offering to Kobo Daishi before dividing among monks indicate how importantly Matsutake was handled in those days.<\/p>\n

The document below was written by Kumon(\u516c\u6587), a person in charge of distributing land tax from Shoen (manors). It also contains reference to Matsutake delivered as land tax:<\/p>\n

\"Toji<\/a>
Item 6 of Box-NE (Katakana), \u201cToji Genju Kuso Nassho Kumon Eiin Moshijo An\u201d, dated December 1283.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this document, it is stated that Matsutake sent from Hiranodonosho was \u201c\u4e00\u5c71\u4e4b\u666f\u7269\u201d, and that it was particularly sinful to acquire it without offering to Kobo Daishi. \u201c\u666f\u7269\u201d means a rare seasonal specialty from mountains. It seems that fragrant Matsutake was handled not as ordinary food, but as a special offering.<\/p>\n

In \u201cKefukigusa(\u6bdb\u5439\u8349)\u201d, a book written in the early Edo period, special products from different parts of Japan are listed. In the section of Yamato(\u5927\u548c) (present Nara), Matsutake is included in the list (Volume 4, Kefukigusa). Matsutake that was delivered from Hiranodonosho, Yamato, must have been valued very highly.<\/p>\n

Matsutake was loved not only by monks. In Toji, Matsutake sent as land tax was not enough. They bought additional Matsutake for high prices, and served it in parties, or presented it to temples that had close ties with Toji, to Shogun, and to other important figures in Bakufu (shogunate). It was often included in the meeting agenda to whom Matsutake should be presented, and how much the amount should be (Item 12 of Box-CHI (Hiragana), \u201cNijuikku-kata Hyojo Hikitsuke\u201d, Article dated September 18, 1438, and others).<\/p>\n

The following document indicates what kinds of boxes were used for presenting Matsutake:<\/p>\n

\"Shinjo<\/a>
Item 150 of Box-CHI (Katakana), \u201cShinjo Matsutake Ori Chumon\u201d, dated 1508<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This document lists to whom Matsutake would be presented, and specifies the respective numbers and sizes of boxes. For example, in the second line it says \u201c\u9032\u4e0a\u3000\u4e09\u5408\u201d, and underneath it is written \u201c\u4e00\u5c3a\u56db\u5bf8\u3000\u53f0\u5728\u4e4b\u201d. \u201c\u9032\u4e0a (Shinjo)\u201d here means that Matsutake was presented to Ashikaga Yoshitada(\u8db3\u5229\u7fa9\u5c39), the 10th Shogun of the Muromachi bakufu. \u201c\u5408 (Go)\u201d is a unit used for boxes, just as in the Toji Hyakugo Archives. One Go means one box. In this case Matsutake was presented in three square boxes with bases, about 42 centimeters on one side. The document shows that one box each was also presented to five other persons, making eight boxes in total. Boxes to other persons were smaller and without bases, suggesting that the gift to Shogun was particularly special.<\/p>\n

Today, Matsutake grown in Japan is priced as high as around 10,000 yen per piece. It would be extravagant to present eight boxes of them! How much did it cost in those days? Look at the document below:<\/p>\n

\"Matsutake<\/a>
Item 143-1 of Box-O (Katakana), \u201cMatsutake Shinjo narabini Kokoromi Iriashi Chumon\u201d, September 11, 1438<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the beginning, it is written \u201c\u677e\u8338\u4e0a\u9032\u4e8b\u201d, followed by the specification \u201c\u6570\u4e94\u767e\u4e94\u5341\u672c\u3000\u4ee3\u56db\u8cab\u4e03\u767e\u6587\u201d. As many as 550 pieces were donated! According to the price indicated here, one piece cost approximately 8.5 mon. At the top left of this document, it says \u201c\u7c73\u4e8c\u6597\u4e5d\u5347\u4e94\u5408\u3000\u4ee3\u4e09\u767e\u5341\u4e03\u6587\u201d, indicating that rice cost approximately 7.3 mon per kilogram at that time. So, a piece of Matsutake was slightly more expensive than one kilogram of rice. It seems much more reasonable than in the present day. In those days, there were many pine (Matsu) mountains around Kyoto, and the harvest of Matsutake was much larger than in the present.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u5fc3\u5473 (Kokoromi)\u201d in the title of this document signifies the tasting of a food. Maybe people had a party for enjoying Matsutake together as a seasonal specialty of fall. In the lower half of this document are listed food items served at this party, and seasonings used for them. Vintage sake, new brew of sake, rice, Japanese white radish, ginger, pickled vegetables, kelp, soybean paste, salt, vinegar, etc. It is clear that Matsutake was the special feature of the party, but unfortunately the document does not reveal how it was cooked and served.<\/p>\n

It seems that people had a good harvest of Matsutake in this year, because it was served generously to guests and to maids. From nobles to common people must have looked forward to seasonal Matsutake every year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– \u201cThey say that monks send apprentices all the way to Mt. Hira for fetching their favorite foods, such as Matsutake, Hiratake, Enoki\/Nameko, Renkon that grows in ponds, Seri, Junsai, Gobo, Kohone, Udo, Warabi, Tsukushi, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=278"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1062,"href":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions\/1062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyakugo.pref.kyoto.lg.jp\/eng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}