Eating Wild Japan: Tracking the Culture of Foraged Foods, with a Guide to Plants and Recipes - Paperback

by Winifred Bird (Author), Paul Poynter (Illustrator)

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

Author Biography

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.