Current Trends and Future Prospects for Mushroom Production in Japan

Current trends and future prospects for mushroom production in Japan are introduced. Although mushroom production has increased favorably by bed-log and sawdust-based cultivation and by reacting to a variety of consumer demands, it is faced with an unprecedented cruel status after the nuclear power plant disaster. It is expected that mushroom production has progressed to the cost-cutting system of the budget-price age, which means specialization for incubated spawn, incubated media and fruit-body formation and it will be divided into two-approaches : intensive cultivation and rough cultivation. The development of cultivation techniques and breeding which contribute to Relief and Safety and Delicacy of mushrooms and research which shows clearly that it is healthy to eat mushrooms regularly are expected to lead to new growth of mushroom production in the future.