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Short abstract:

The paper examines the politics of knowledge in matsutake cultivation in Japan, focusing on (1) how humans translate fungal life; and (2) how scientists translate lay knowledge. It addresses the dilemma of agricultural sciences shaped by the legacies of imperialism and extractive industrialization.

Long abstract:

The development of mycology illustrates the complex entanglements of cosmopolitan technoscience and vernacular knowledge. While fungi are ubiquitous and play a significant role in shaping the lives of diverse species, they appear to be “enigmatic” and “elusive” to the modern scientific gaze. The amateur enthusiasts’ skills in finding mushrooms and farmers’ tacit knowledge about fungi’s ecology have contributed to the development of scientific knowledge about mushrooms.

This paper traces the “artificial cultivation” of the matsutake mushroom, a gourmet mushroom highly valued in Japan. While matsutake cultivation has been attempted for over a century, it still poses many “puzzles” to scientists. As an ectomycorrhizal mushroom, which forms a complex symbiotic relationship with living host trees, the matsutake evades human intention to control its reproductive ability in the laboratory. Yet, some farmers and citizen volunteers are successful in conditioning forests to produce matsutake mushrooms. The paper examines the process of “translation” in matsutake cultivation projects. “Translation” here is twofold: (1) interspecies translation of fungal life by humans – both by scientific experts and non-scientific experts; and (2) intra-species translation of various knowledge among scientists and non-scientists. By tracing the translation process, the paper discusses the dilemma of agricultural and forest sciences shaped by the legacies of imperialism and extractive industrialization. The paper also addresses the analytic potential of “translation” in examining the politics of knowledge among various ontological and epistemological traditions.