For some strange reason, I became interested in hunting for wild mushrooms this year. September was amazing... Hiking at Takao, it seemed Boletes were everywhere. There were also pretty Caesar's Amanitas (Tamagotake in Japanese, meaning egg mushroom, because the bright red mushroom cap seems to hatch out of a white egg on the ground).

In October, I rented a car and drove west to the mountains. Just east of Yatsugatake (Eight Peaks) is a jagged mountain called Mizugaki. It straddles the border of Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures (the latter is where the '98 winter olympics were held). It was a magical day and accordingly, I found a magical mushroom, the bright red, polka-dotted Amanita muscaria. I also met some other mushroomers who were gathering "Slippery Jacks" and so I picked some, too.

Now in November, it's gotten colder, and I was afraid the season was over. But happily, I came upon some "Bleeding Milk Caps" at Takao and the other day in Okutama. I also found a patch of Blewits (from old "Blue Hats"), all of which are edible. For the Milk Caps, I found a Russian country recipe for salted/pickled/fermented Milk caps and they're quite good -- especially with vodka. ;-)