I am currently working remotely from Japan for a couple months. I have heard that mushroom hunting is popular here in the fall and I have heard of people going on mushroom hunting tours. I’d love to try this and I was wondering if anybody had any ideas of where I could find mushroom hunting tours that are guided by an expert (who can tell me that I’m not eating poisonous mushrooms).
I have found a few tours through Google, YouTube, and friends, but they are all pretty far away from any of the places that I’m visiting. I also tried searching AirBnb Experiences but didn’t find any. Does anyone have a site that they would recommend that might host listings for tours like this?
On the one hand, I did find a bunch of mushroom farms where I can pick mushrooms at the following link, but I would still like the experience of hunting for wild mushrooms in the forest:
[https://www.jalan.net/theme/mikakugari/kinoko/#ken9](https://www.jalan.net/theme/mikakugari/kinoko/#ken9)
In case this is useful to anyone else, here are the wild mushroom hunting tours that I found.
This one is near Kamakura but is sold out:
[https://www.yamayoshigijieten.com/mushroom.html](https://www.yamayoshigijieten.com/mushroom.html)
This one is pretty far north, near Hanamaki in Iwate prefecture:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZpM4S4Ixjc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZpM4S4Ixjc)
Here’s one in Otari, a couple hours northwest of Nagano:
[https://sotoasobi.net/activity/trekking/4/16/30/1301/6549](https://sotoasobi.net/activity/trekking/4/16/30/1301/6549)
Here are a few in Niigata and Nagano:
[https://www.byfood.com/experiences/mushroom-hunting-adventure-and-fireside-dining-in-niigata-387](https://www.byfood.com/experiences/mushroom-hunting-adventure-and-fireside-dining-in-niigata-387)[https://eatmeetjapan.co/winners-2019/8](https://eatmeetjapan.co/winners-2019/8)
[https://www.go-nagano.net/en/experience/id=18706](https://www.go-nagano.net/en/experience/id=18706)
[https://www.shinetsu-activity.jp/en/activity/586/](https://www.shinetsu-activity.jp/en/activity/586/)
[https://www.japan.travel/national-parks/parks/myoko-togakushi-renzan/see-and-do/mushroom-picking-adventure/](https://www.japan.travel/national-parks/parks/myoko-togakushi-renzan/see-and-do/mushroom-picking-adventure/)
Here’s one in Hyogo, pretty close to Kyoto but I think it was in October and I can’t find more details on it:
[https://en.japantravel.com/hyogo/mikiyama-mushroom-hunt0/3175](https://en.japantravel.com/hyogo/mikiyama-mushroom-hunt0/3175)
I don’t speak Japanese well, but I think I would be able to find a Japanese friend to help translate a tour in Japanese.
If you’re able to help me find a tour, I’m more than happy to pay for your ticket if you want to join!
Thanks!