This recognition of native fungi and microbial terroir has been the catalyst for examining the complex subject that is the focus of this study. While continuing work on the butabushi, we also began testing other traditional fermented products.The idea began with a hope that the rice used as a drying element in our butabushi would be a viable option for making koji, and ultimately miso. Koji is a fermented grain,traditionally rice or barley,inoculated with A. orzyae and
left to colonize(Katz,2010).It is then used in a number of fermented products as its enzymatic production facilitates a starch to sugar conversion,as well as peptide and amino acid
development in starchy,protein rich environments(Shurtleff and Aoyagi,2001). With this in mind,two simultaneous paths emerged: one to understand and replicate traditional fermentations,and also to sample and harvest native microorganisms from our environment.