Ancient Piedade Region
Fossil records show evidence that the area now called Brazil has been inhabited for at least 8,000 years by indigenous populations. The origins of the first Brazilians, who were called “Indians” by the Portuguese, are still a matter of dispute among archaeologists. The traditional view is that they were part of the first wave of migrant hunters who came into the Americas from Siberia, across the Bering Strait. However some archaeologists see signs of a much older human population, morphologically distinct from the Asian hunters and more similar to African and Australian natives, who were displaced or absorbed by the Siberian hunters.

19th Century Piedade
In the 19th century, a diverse group of families came together from neighboring localities, mainly Sorocaba (a city in southern Brazil in the southeastern portion of São Paulo State) and formed a small town. Among that early group of settlers was a man named Vicente Garcia. Between 1831 and 1835, a “Tropeiro” (Brazilian typical Cowboy) told Vicente Garcia, that he had a vision of Piedade. Vicente Garcia in adoration of God’s Mother Piedade constructed a small chapel that was blessed on May 20, 1840. This date is considered the day that Piedade was founded.

Modern Day Piedade
In the mid-20th century after a mass migration from Japan, a grower and researcher named Takatoshi Furomoto discovered a special mushroom in Piedade. It was discovered after observing the peculiar and miraculous health status of the Piedade people. Hardly any of them were afflicted with the usual age-related maladies such as cancer or diabetes, and even more intriguing, a significantly large amount of them lived to be well over 100 years old. Upon further observation, Furumoto was able to attribute this amazing phenomenon to a special mushroom locally referred to as Cogumelo de Vida or the mushroom of life.

The mushroom, also referred to as Himematsutake in Japan, was later identified scientifically as Agaricus blazei Murrill. Mushroom production of this species, grew during 1960’s and 1970’s. Some samples of the mushroom were sent to Dr Shoji Shibata who was a teacher in the Pharmacy School of Tokyo University in Japan. They carried out research on the medicinal properties of the mushroom. Later, because of the better weather conditions found in Brazil the mother cultures were sent back to be grown again in Brazil for shipment to Japan. Today, however, massive industrial development and pollution has nearly eliminated the conditions that provide for the growth of this rare and potent species.