Oita Prefecture's shiitake farmers, who have struggled for years amid a flood of low-priced imports from China, are enjoying an unexpected change in fortunes as demand for domestically grown food surges.
The prefecture, which boasts of being the largest producer of dried shiitake in Japan, is benefiting from consumer concerns about the safety of food products from abroad, particularly China.
"Ordinary consumers are opting for domestic shiitake and steering clear of Chinese products due to a series of scandals involving Chinese-made food products last year," said Eiji Kugumiya, who advises a farmers' cooperative, referring to incidents in which Japanese people fell ill after eating tainted imports.