Cheap, odorless 'matsutake' in high demand

KAGOSHIMA (Kyodo) A lookalike of the coveted "matsutake" mushroom is in high season on Amami Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, with inquiries coming in from Tokyo and other cities about acquiring the cheap substitute for the coveted autumn delicacy.

Knockoff: A local mushroom hunter shows off "nise matsutake" (fake matsutake) on a mountain on Amami Island, Kagoshima Prefecture. KYODO PHOTO

Called "nise matsutake" (fake matsutake) by locals, the mushroom is identical in shape and feel but lacks the telltale scent that makes it special and expensive.

Nise matsutake only grow in the wild, and local mushroom hunters go into the mountains early in the morning to collect them, coming back with some 6 kg of the fungi on average.

"This year's harvest is exceptionally good," a local mushroom hunter said.

Maybe that's good news for consumers. A department store in Hiroshima is already selling the impostor and traders from Tokyo are interested in dealing with it as well, a local vender said.

A package of five to six pieces sells for about ¥680, while real matsutake, even those from outside Japan, can fetch thousands of yen for a few pieces, the vender said.