The management of plant resources in Japan can be traced back across a span of some 10,000 years. Agricultural food production in Japan has traditionally been dominated by the cultivation of grains and vegetables, with animal husbandry being a relatively minor and in many parts of the country more recent feature of the agricultural landscape. In this series we explore iconic Japanese agricultural products including not only famous food ingredients, but also other products cultivated from the land such as fibres, dyes, resins and forest products, with an emphasis on quality and tradition.