Tokyo's final class this year on shiitake mushrooms took place earlier this month at Noyamakita Rokudoyama Park in the hills of Sayama, straddling the border between Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture.
Held in front of a traditional thatched-roof farmhouse, about 30 people learned how to saw dried oaks into logs, drill holes in them and plant cubes of mushroom spore.
The hills are only half an hour by bus from JR Tachikawa Station in western Tokyo, but the techniques for growing the prized fungus are a countryside tradition.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.