When you think of poisonous mushrooms, the fly agaric, with its red cap and white spots, immediately comes to mind. A social media post by someone who had been searching for this very mushroom for years and finally found it in Hokkaido has become a hot topic.

UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!! After 10 long years!!! Finally!! Finally! I found a fly agaric!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hokkaido is the best!!!!!!!!!!!

Photo courtesy of @indiana1974's post

The photo shows vibrant mushrooms. What's more, it looks like a small frog is perched on the mushroom in the foreground. The post received comments like, "It looks like an illustration from a picture book," "The contrast is beautiful," and "The frog is too cute," garnering over 150,000 likes.

A 14-Year Search! Finally Discovered While Doing a Certain Cosplay

The poster is Junya Sato, the president of Ikimon Co., Ltd., a Tokyo-based toy manufacturer that creates toys based on natural science and art motifs. He started searching for a real fly agaric in 2010 when he was creating a capsule toy series of mushroom figures, which included the fly agaric in its lineup. Since they are found in limited locations on Honshu, he couldn't find one easily. After 14 years of searching, he finally came across it near Lake Toya in Hokkaido.

The "Mushroom Soft Strap" released in 2010

Mr. Sato is also a big fan of the manga "Golden Kamuy," which is set in Hokkaido. During his business trip to Hokkaido, he took some time to visit pilgrimage sites dressed as the protagonist, Sugimoto. The scene of him finding the fly agaric looks just like a scene from the manga.

At the time, I had no idea that a picture taken in such a silly outfit would go viral...

Over three days, Mr. Sato visited Upopoy, Noboribetsu Bear Park, Showa-shinzan Bear Ranch, Otaru Nishin Goten, the Sapporo Beer Factory, and the Historical Village of Hokkaido.

Actually, the Two in the Front are Hyper-Realistic Figures

There's a secret to the photo. At first glance, it looks like three vibrant mushrooms are growing, but the two in the front are actually capsule toys from Ikimon Co., Ltd.! They are so realistic and cute that many people mistook them for the real thing. Mr. Sato's clarification, "The two in the front are figures! Don't be mistaken! Sorry!" was flooded with comments like, "I thought they were real," and "They don't look out of place at all."

"Nature Techni Colour MONOPLUS Mushroom and Tree Frog Figure Mascot & Ball Chain 2" All 8 types, 500 yen each. Scheduled for release in December 2024.

The figure in the foreground, with a tree frog on a mushroom, is a new product scheduled for release in December. The company also offers other unique and adorable products, such as mushroom magnets and an earplug collection. If you're interested, be sure to check them out.

Finally, a word of caution. If humans consume the fly agaric, it can affect the central nervous system, causing dizziness, confusion, hallucinations, and respiratory distress. It's also possible for the white spots to come off by chance, making it easy to mistake for other mushrooms. Please be very careful.