Media & press inquiries start here.
For the Media
Diverse Stories Beyond the "What Is This?!"
Why not begin your coverage with the sheer surprise of an enormous shiitake mushroom? Ask about our cultivation methods, and you will hear tales of trial and error where entire mushroom beds fell off shelves. Trace the ingredients back, and you will discover links to Seto Inland Sea oyster shells and Shikoku timber.
At Fukayama Farm, we warmly welcome coverage and filming for various media outlets, including TV program planning, magazine and newspaper features, and web media articles.
Beyond high-impact products like our oversized "Giant Kaiju Shiitake" measuring over 17 cm in diameter, there are multifaceted background stories to explore—such as "the journey of our representative, who transitioned from mold research to a megabank before taking up farming," "our unique utilization of IT and AI to visualize farm operations," "regional resource recycling utilizing Seto Inland Sea oyster shells and Shikoku timber," and "authentic collaborations with a long-established ekiben maker."
Exciting to eat, interesting to grow, with a somewhat unusual background. Please look into our farm from whichever angle best suits your project. We are happy to consult on interviews and filming of cultivation or cooking right from the planning stage.
Inquire About Media Coverage & Filming
10 Angles for Covering Fukayama Farm
1. Overwhelming Presence That Makes You Look Twice: "Giant Kaiju Shiitake" and "Petit Shiitake"
"It's huge!" "Is this really a shiitake?" These are common reactions at events. Our extra-large offering is the over 17 cm diameter "Giant Kaiju Shiitake -The Supreme All-Toppings-." It is baked topped with butter, mayonnaise, soy sauce, and cheese. On the other hand, our bite-sized Petit Shiitake can be enjoyed whole without cutting. Both the large format and petit sizes originate from the exact same variety and substrate bed.
2. "Do You Have Shiitake with Open Caps?" A Reverse Development Story Started by Customer Voices
During sampling sales at department stores, customers frequently asked for shiitake with wide-open caps. The reason: they wanted to make stuffed mushrooms. The shape deemed ideal in distribution differed from what home cooks actually wanted. This insight led to developing shiitake encouraged to open even wider, as well as ready-to-cook items meant to be eaten simply by grilling.
3. Too Big and Rolling Off the Shelf with the Bed? Cultivation Innovations Learned from Failure
Shiitake left to grow large sometimes stop midway. Leaving two to grow together causes them to collide and lose their shape. When one finally grows impressively large, it becomes so heavy that it falls off the shelf along with the cultivation bed.
Behind the creation of our large-format mushrooms lie countless such failures.
We adjust the angle and position on the shelves, fine-tuning while monitoring varying temperature and humidity between rainy and sunny days, or top and bottom tiers. "Shiitake never listen to a word we say. It feels just like raising children."
4. A Substrate Bed "Marriage" Connecting the Seto Inland Sea with Shikoku Mountains
Domestic timber primarily sourced from Ehime and Kochi Prefectures, oyster shells from the Seto Inland Sea as a calcium carbonate source, and mountain spring water. We blend regional resources right from the cultivation stage. "We sometimes wonder if the taste of oysters might transfer to the shiitake, but understandably that was too much to ask." Resources that would otherwise be discarded after use become vital cultivation materials on our farm.
5. Spent Substrate Beds Turned into Beetle Food: Raising Around 200 Hercules Beetle Larvae
After harvest, the spent substrate beds are turned into insect mat bedding for larvae by a manufacturer in Himeji, then distributed to home centers and insect shops nationwide. They are also used as compost material by local farmers. At the farm, we also rear about 200 Hercules beetle larvae, which doubles as a quality check for our raw materials. These are not sold to the general public.
6. Environmental Consideration through a Blend of Standard Electricity and Power with Non-Fossil Fuel Certificates
Alongside standard electricity, we use the "Carbon-Free Plan" featuring non-fossil fuel certificates provided by Rezil Inc.
View Organic JAS Certification, SDGs Initiatives, and Electricity Certificates
7. From Smartphone Adoption to In-House System Development and AI: Grassroots Agricultural DX
Our company operates 7 days a week, and there is never a day when everyone is together. In 2016, we introduced smartphones and Chatwork to shift to asynchronous written communication. Harvest yields, temperatures, shipments, and customer correspondence are all managed through our self-developed system.
Currently, we also leverage AI for organizing tasks, cross-referencing sales partner information, drafting text, and system development. We share our insights with friendly agricultural corporations and conduct training for different industries. Our representative is also involved in software development and SaaS provision through a separate company.
8. A 3rd-Generation Leader with an Unusual Career: Farming Seen Through "Mold Research" and a "Megabank"
Our representative, Yoichiro Fukayama, studied mold at the Faculty and Graduate School of Agriculture at Kyoto University. He inserted green fluorescent protein (GFP) to observe glowing fungal hyphae. Afterward, he spent 9 years at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation handling corporate sales, venture support, and businesses related to agriculture, regenerative medicine, and investment funds, before returning to the family business in 2016. He is a third-generation shiitake grower who has journeyed across research, finance, and cultivation.
9. The Name "Setouchi Shiitake" Came from a Buyer's Single Remark
When pitching to a supermarket in Osaka, he was told: "'Local production for local consumption' only applies as far as Kobe. From Akashi westward, it's all the same all the way to Yamaguchi Prefecture." At first he was surprised, but recalling his own days working in Namba, he understood that sense of distance from the perspective of an Osaka retail floor.
If that was the case, why not give it a name that represents that expanse? The name that came to mind was "Setouchi." A treasure trove of ingredients rich in both mountain and marine bounty. We poured our hope of creating a culinary marriage between those ingredients and shiitake into the name "Setouchi Shiitake." We have also obtained a design registration for "Setouchi Yasai" (Setouchi Vegetables).
10. Irregular on the Outside, Beautiful on the Inside: The Meaning Behind the "Nakami Bijin" Trademark
We welcome movements to reduce food waste. However, we question using an imperfect shape merely as a justification for buying at bargain prices. Even if the shape is irregular, the cultivation cost and the deliciousness remain the same. If only low prices are pursued, the fair price needed for growers to continue producing next time is lost.
In some cases, farms choose not to ship non-standard items at all to avoid price reductions spilling over to their other products. Merely reducing the amount discarded is not a true solution if farmers cannot sustain their operations.
With this conviction, we registered the trademark "Nakami Bijin" (Inner Beauty). Though the appearance may be slightly irregular, the inside is beautiful. We aim to foster a relationship where deliciousness is properly evaluated, respecting both the food and the people who make it.
Collaborations and Awards
Gold Prize Winner at the Nishi-Harima Food Selection 2026
Our in-house developed product, "Giant Kaiju Shiitake -The Supreme All-Toppings-," won the Gold Prize at the "Nishi-Harima Food Selection 2026," which honors outstanding food products rich in regional character.
Collaboration with Maneki Shokuhin: "Overwhelming Setouchi Shiitake Chirashizushi"
Born from a collaboration with Himeji ekiben maker Maneki Shokuhin Co., Ltd., the "Fukayama Farm Certified Overwhelming Setouchi Shiitake Chirashizushi" won a double award in the Ekiben / Soraben category at the "Souzai & Bento Grand Prix 2026": the "Gold Prize" and the "Judges' Special Award." This masterpiece features large-format shiitake painstakingly grown by Fukayama Farm as the star ingredient, paired with four distinct styles of chirashizushi. It is currently available at Himeji Station and at Tokyo Station's "Ekiben-ya Matsuri Gransta Tokyo."
Adoption at Tourist Destination Grab-and-Go Shops
Items topped at our farm are grilled and served at shops in tourist destinations. This represents a synergy combining our farm's products with the partner shops' strengths in location, customer service, and operations. For Maneki Shokuhin, we deliver unprocessed large-format shiitake, while planning, seasoning, and presentation are handled by their team.
Guide to General Information Pages (Detailed References)
- Product List and Features: Product Introduction Page
- Collaborations and Case Studies with Restaurants and Manufacturers: For Restaurants & Food Manufacturers / Case Studies
- Farm History, Representative Profile, and Cultivation Environment: About the Farm
- News & Press Releases: News
- Cultivation Backstories and Insights on IT/AI Usage: Articles (Blog)
Inquiries Regarding Media Coverage, Filming, and Material Provision
Looking to capture scenes conveying true scale? Want to hear about cultivation innovations on-site? Tailored to your project, we accommodate cultivation greenhouse tours, interviews with our representative and staff, and filming of harvesting and cooking scenes. Please also consult us regarding the provision of product photography and greenhouse image data.
For coverage and filming applications or project inquiries, please select "Application for Fukayama Farm Coverage" via the contact form below and reach out to us.