Families keep mum about their favorite matsutake hunting grounds; a common joke is that if someone tells you where they go to hunt mushrooms, they’d have to kill you. Matsutake mushrooms have become so rare in Japan that most of them are imported, including from the U.S., and Japanese-grown matsutake can cost up to $500 per pound. Young Japanese Americans are taught from an early age by their elders that matsutake hunting is serious and almost sacred, even though the family outings are always remembered as fun times. In the past, Japanese Americans have brought matsutake to her family’s store to sell — after they’ve prepped their own share. The store didn’t sell matsutake last year, either — a sign that the yield has been going down for some time.