Sado Mushroom Camp, lunchtime session, collecting maitake, naratake and shimeji mushrooms in the Sado Mountains.

Later that day, the mushrooms collected are eaten together in the evening. This time, Soba Mozaemon (Mozem) provided their restaurant as the venue for the event.

Soba Mozaemon opened this year and is a popular restaurant on Sado Island where you can enjoy handmade soba and seasonal food and drinks. The owner is keen for customers to enjoy freshly made soba, so reservations are required in advance.

I had gone shopping with Mr T, so I arrived at the venue just before 7pm.

When they entered the hall, members of the group, with the exception of the cooking team, were cleaning the mushrooms they had collected. Mushrooms collected in the wild naturally have soil and other things attached to them. These are removed using scissors and cutters.

Looking at the table, there are already several dishes. They include stir-fried bird skins and pearl oyster mushrooms. Under the rules of the 'mushroom camp', participants bring their own food and drinks, other than mushrooms.

In the hands of the cooking team, the assorted sashimi (a time-sale product) purchased at the supermarket was quickly arranged in such a beautiful way. In fact, this year's cooking team was made up of some of the most distinguished members on Sado Island, including the manager and owner of a famous restaurant and a master of creative cooking. Until last year, the barbecue was held at the campsite of the Shinpo Dam, but this year it was upgraded considerably.

I took a quick peek into the cooking area. It is quite hot. Piles of natural mushrooms and numerous ingredients brought in. How to arrange and arrange them is a serious game for the chefs.

Meanwhile, the other participants were enjoying the food and drinks and talking about all sorts of things. The members from the evening session also joined in, and the most exciting part was the 'mushroom talk'. The participants talked about things such as "egg mushrooms can be found in ●●" and "I tried to eat some ▲▲ but it wasn't very good". The world of mushrooms is really deep.

Of course, specialist confirmation is necessary when collecting mushrooms, but reference books such as illustrated catalogues are also indispensable. Among such catalogues is a book called 'Anthropomorphic Mushrooms', brought by whoever brought it.

This book explains how a number of mushrooms are replaced by moe characters. I've heard that anthropomorphised battleships are all the rage these days, but have mushrooms become moe characters too? This is very easy to understand when you read it. Of course, the book also includes photos of the actual mushrooms, so it can be used as a reference for collecting mushrooms.

Mushroom dishes are intermittently delivered from the kitchen. It's something like real French food. I can't believe those mushrooms turned out like this..! The cooking team is too awesome!

These are ingredients brought in. A collaboration of sausages from Henjin Mokko and aubergines from Sado Island. The arrangement is artistic!

This is 'Shijou no Poiret with Nameko and Naratake Mushroom Sauce' - I can't believe that the nameko and naratake mushrooms I picked up at lunchtime turned out to look so stylish... I'm already impressed.

This is a quiche with a mushroom in it. It was as thick as a pizza and easy to eat.

This maitake mushroom tempura was very crispy and excellent. After all, natural products are different.

This is eggplant tempura from Sado Island. This is also fresh and delicious! From French-style to Japanese-style tempura, the table is decorated with a variety of creative dishes from Japan and the West.

Soba noodles by Mozaemon also made an appearance. Of course, they were freshly made. This time we were served a blend of Sado soba flour to try. Soba Tsuyu (buckwheat sauce) is poured directly over the soba noodles, which is the Sado way of eating soba. It was also excellent.

Many other dishes and food items to bring in will follow. There is no end to the talk and food.

Mushrooms are collected on Sado Island, cooked on Sado Island and eaten on Sado Island. This is truly local production for local consumption, the ultimate slow food. The very luxurious 'mushroom banquet', with all of Sado's leading chefs, lasted until late into the night.

I would like to thank the members of the mushroom team for taking the initiative in gathering mushrooms, Mozaemon for providing the venue and the cooking team for their skills.

And I realised once again that "Sado" is truly a wonderful place to have such a wonderful experience.

[Attention.

When collecting natural mushrooms, always ask someone in the know to determine whether they are safe. Never collect mushrooms of which you are unsure of the type.

• The photographs in this article do not guarantee the type or safety of the mushrooms.
• The dishes listed above are not from theSoba Mozaemon (Mozem) menu.

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