Following the recent posting on the all-vegetable dinner at Tomii, Rich nicely asked me for more information, especially concerning the names of wild edible plants found in Japan as he rightly recognized it could come very handy to vegans and vegetarians everywhere!

Now, I titled this particular posting “Sansai/Wild Mountain Plants”, because they also include wild fruit that can be eaten both as vegetables and fruit with various preparations.
Some can be boiled, others fried, prepared as tempura, cooked in soup, prepared as pickles or jam, etc.

As it would become far too big (already massive, but inexhaustive) a posting if I wrote everything, please pick up one item at a time if you want more explanations and I will write an individual article for your pleasure!

Here we go:
(No particular order)

AINU NEGI: ALIUM VICTORIALIS

AKEBI: CHOCOLATE VINE

AMADOKORO: POLYGONATUM ODORATUM

AZAMI: THISTLE

FUKINOTO: GIANT BUTTERBUR

HAMABOUFUU: GLEHNIA LITTORALIS

HANGONSOU: SENECIO CANNABIFOLIUS

HASUKAPPU: LONICERA CAERULEA/HASCUP

HIKAGEHEGO: FLYING SPIDER MONKEY TREE FERN

IRAKUSA: URTICA THUNBERGIANA

ITADORI: JAPANESE KNOTWEED

KATAKURI: DOGTOOTH VIOLET

KIBOUSHI: PLANTAIN LILY HOSTA FORTINEI ( a variety of Hosta Montana)

KOGOMI: OSTRICH FERN (exists as green and red)

KOSHIABURA : ASCATHOPANAX SCIADOPHYLLOIDES

KUKO: CHINESE WOLFBERRY

KUSAGI: HARLEQUIN GLORY BOWER PEANUT BUTTER SHRUB

MATATABI: SILVER VINE

MITSUBA: JAPANESE HONEYWORT

NIRINSOU: ANEMONE FLACCIDA

NOBIRU: ALIUM MACROSTEMON

OYAMABOKUCHI: SYNURUS PUNGENS

RYOUBU: CLERTHRA BARBINERVIS

SARUNASHI: ACTINIA ARGUTA

SERI: JAPANESE PARSLEY

SUBERIYU: COMMON PURSLANE

TAKENOKO: BAMBOO SHOOTS (SPROUTS)

TANPOPO: DANDELION

TARA NO ME: ARALIA ELATA

TSUKUSHI: HORSETAIL

TSUROGANENINJIN: ADENOPHORA TRIPHYLLA

UDO: ARALIA CORDATA

YAMAUDO: same as UDO (above)

URUI: HOSTA MONTANA

WARABI: PTERIDIUM AQUILINUM

YAMABUDO: CRIMSON GLORY VINE

YAMAWASABI: WILD HORSERADISH

ZENMAI: OSMUNDA JAPONICA

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Still have to find the English names for the following ones!

AIKO

AKAMIZU

AOMIZU

INUDOUNA

SHIDOKE

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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