Photo/Illutration Visitors walk along the bamboo road in Muko, Kyoto Prefecture. (Yoshiaki Arai)

MUKO, Kyoto Prefecture--The leafy pathway through a bamboo forest in the Arashiyama area of Kyoto is popular with tourists.

Now visitors who want to avoid the heaving crowds in this historic city have an alternative that is surprisingly close by, but is not a short cut.

The Arashiyama bamboo path is only about 400 meters long, but the nearby “bamboo road” in Muko, a suburb of Kyoto, stretches for 1.8 kilometers.

The longer route offers visitors a chance to enjoy the rustling bamboo leaves and singing birds in a quiet area away from urban bustle.

And the road is surprisingly bright because it passes through a bamboo shoot field rather than a bamboo forest.

Local farmers manage the bamboo by weeding out the taller plants to allow sunshine to reach the ground, allowing edible “takenoko,” or bamboo shoots, to take root.

Bamboo grows quickly, so taller plants have to be constantly cut down to allow the shoots to appear. The result is more sunshine on the bamboo road as well.

The bamboo shoots dug up here are highly prized by local restaurants that serve slices much like sashimi and eaten with soy sauce and wasabi.

The soft and sweet tasting bamboo shoots are possible because of the care taken to create a soft bed in which the plants can sprout. Layers of rice straw are intermixed with dirt, and farmers gingerly take precautions to not step on the bed so as not to interfere with the plants as they grow.

 

(This article was written by Yoko Hibino and Yoshiaki Arai.)

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