• Introduction


• Acknowledgments

Common Weeds and Woodland Wonders: The First Greens of Spring

Tree of Life: The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Horse Chestnut

Feast and Famine: The Split Personality of a Globe-Conquering Fern

The Tallest Grass in the World: Tales of Bamboo Wild and Tame

Seasons of the Sea

Conclusion

Recipes

Glossary

• Plant Descriptions


• Cooking Terms

Selected Bibliography

A delicious collection of essays, recipes, and practical plant information exploring Japan's thriving culture of foraged foods.

From bracken to butterbur to "princess" bamboo, some of Japan's most iconic foods are foraged, not grown, in its forests, fields, and coastal waters--yet most Westerners have never heard of them.

In this book, journalist Winifred Bird eats her way from one end of the country to the other in search of the hidden stories of Japan's wild foods, the people who pick them, and the places whose histories they've shaped.

"A beautiful and thoughtful exploration of the deep relationship--past and present--between people and wild plants in one of the world's richest foraging regions."?Samuel Thayer, author of Incredible Wild Edibles and The Forager's Harvest

Winifred Bird is a writer, translator, lifelong cook, and lover of plants both wild and domesticated. For almost a decade she lived in rural Japan, where she worked as an environmental journalist, grew organic rice and vegetables, and ate as many foraged foods as possible. She lives with her family on an island in Lake Michigan, where she is a contributor to the local newspaper.

Paul Poynter (illustrations) is an artist, tree climber, and woodsman living in Matsumoto, Japan.