”Kinokono SATO, Hirofumi Sato” Supporting economic revival with mushrooms

2013.4.72019.4.15

Mushroom with firm aroma

When Nakata visited the farm, there were rows of ”shiitake” mushroom ready to be shipped. Each one of them were big and of perfect shape and looked very strong. ”It is delicious eating them raw” said Hirofumi Sato, the president of Kinokono SATO. The ”shiitake” mushroom from Kinokono SATO are large and strong.
The reason lies in the way they are grown. Normally, when cultivating ”shiitake”, they are frequently watered so they will grow large. However, according to Sato, ”It will make the mushroom watery and the texture will be soggy”. Sato raises the mushrooms by placing water in between the rows of soil and let the mushroom grow absorbing the evaporated water as much as it wants. The mushroom decides how much water it needs, so it grows with the most appropriate amount of water. Also for the fungal base, they use ”wakame” stem and oyster shells which contains a lot of nutrition, so the ”shiitake” grows to be aromatic and thick.
Sato says, ”It takes a lot of time to care so the growth is slow, but the ”shiitake” grows to be very flavorful.”

Big and strong Woodyear mushrooms

Raw Woodyear Mushrooms” are famous among the Kinokono SATO product line. Kinokono SATO is the first company in Japan to deliver raw woo dear mushroom to the big retailers. The reason why raw woo dear mushroom did not get on the market is largely due to the expiration date. When it is raw and not dried, most of them are not edible after 3 days. However the woo dear mushroom from Kinokono SATO can keep for about 2 weeks. It is due to the salty wind from the ocean. Normally the salt stops the growth of mushrooms, however, at Sato’s farm, the wind from the ocean containing salt blows all the time so the mushrooms are resistant to salt. That makes the mushrooms strong and immune to getting spoiled. They use this strength to ship raw woo dear mushrooms throughout Japan.

Now and then of Kinokono SATO

The mushrooms from Kinokono SATO has great aroma and flavor that has been valued by the restaurants around the country. They have been getting orders continuously. The company is located in Rikuzen Takata city. It is a region that suffered from the tsunami by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The seven woo dear mushroom houses and the headquarters office in the coastal area were completely destroyed by the tsunami, and only the foundation of the building remained. However, the Shiitake House and the woo dear mushroom cultivation building were farther away in the mountains not affected by the tsunami.
Part of the facility of Kinokono SATO escaped the damage. It was expected to take a long time until everything was back to normal and plans were made to create employment through mushrooms, and parts of the plan have been put into practice. Aiming for the economic revival through mushrooms, Sato said that he would like to help revive the community and to make the area famous for its delicious mushrooms.