Shirakami Sanchi in an extensive wilderness area of unspoiled virgin forest covering one third of Shirakami mountain range that straddles the border between Aomori and Akita prefectures in the northern Tohoku Region of Japan. It is one of the last natural beech forests left in East Asia, a remnant of forests that have covered the hills and mountain slopes of northern Japan since eight to twelve thousand years ago. Because beech trees are usually unsuitable for cultivation of the Shiitake mushroom, these forests have never been disturbed by Shiitake farmers. Untouched by human hands, these beech forest remain in a state of preservation which is much greater than that of surrounding forests.

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