著者

村社 仁史 種坂 英次

出版者

近畿大学農学部

雑誌

近畿大学農学部紀要 = Memoirs of the Faculty of Agriculture of Kinki University (ISSN:04538889)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.46, pp.355-364, 2013-03-01

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[Synopsis] Historical changes in production of the matsutake mushroom, which are symbiotically associated with Japanese red pine trees as a secondary forest in the Heguri-Yama (presently called Yata-Hills) located in the northwestern area of Nara Prefecture, are overviewed with focusing on human activities and vegetative succession. Evergreen Quercus plants as primary natural vegetation of the Heguri-Yama frequently appeared in literature, such as ‘Kojiki’ , `Nihonshoki' and ‘Manyoshu’ edited during the 8th and 9th centuries. The matsutake harvest in this area was first described in 1259 in the literature `Toji-Hyakugoh-monjo' as seasonal tribute esteemed for Buddhism monks, and frequently appeared in this literature until the 16th century. This mushroom was recorded in contracts as a cash product in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since the early 20th century, the matsutake has become an important economic product of several local communities in collaboration with the tourism initiated by a local railway company. Nevertheless, matsutake production has gradually decreased after the late 1960s, and most local matsutake populations have become extinct. Aged red pine forests have been overtaken by evergreen forest, as it was like in ancient days under natural succession.