The Sound of Bamboo

On a sunny day, the shadow of a bamboo is reflected on the shoji door of a Japanese-style room. It is a Hotei bamboo planted on the border with the neighbor's house. The shadow picture of the branches and leaves swaying and bending is never boring to watch. Rustling, rustling... It is the season when I can feel the scent of the breeze with my eyes.

Bamboo grows quickly. When bamboo shoots emerge, pushing aside the gravel on the ground, they reach my waist height in a few days. If I find one before that, when it is about 10 centimeters tall, I can snap it off and take it to the kitchen. Roast it over a fire and peel the skin. The edible ones are about the thickness of my little finger, but they have a crunchy texture and flavor. I feel a little happy. A feast of two or three each year.

The bamboo shoots that usually decorate my tables are thicker Moso bamboo. The ones from Kyushu in the south of Japan are the first to appear at the greengrocers. I wait until the bamboo shoot front moves north and local bamboo shoots are in season before buying them. I eat them with rice seasoned with vegetables, boiled young bamboo in Tosa style. I also eat Himekawa with egg drop soup, and enjoy the seasons every year.

The most delicious thing I've had in the last few years was bamboo shoots harvested at a temple in Kamakura. I was given one unexpectedly. It was palm-sized, and when I ate it as Sashimi, it was soft and had a strong aroma. Since then, every time I see bamboo groves at temples in Kamakura, the taste of that time comes back to me, and I imagine that there must be bamboo shoots growing there too.

Hokoku-ji Temple is famous for the bamboo forest in Kamakura, but there are many temples where you can enjoy bamboo groves. The sight of lush bamboo stretching into the sky is refreshing. When I walk while looking up in the sunlight filtering through the trees, I feel like I'm dyed green.

When I look down at the ground, I see many traces of bamboo being cut. These are not traces of bamboo shoots that have been harvested, but rather thick, fully grown bamboo. The bamboo was cut cleanly a few centimeters above the ground, leaving a loop at the cut end.

Bamboo forests are beautiful because the bamboo stalks are widely spaced and lined up in neat rows. The magnificent bamboo forest is a delight to the eye, thanks to daily care.

I have also seen abandoned bamboo forests in the mountains, but the bamboo is so dense that it looks suffocating. The color of the leaves is also poor.

I learned about a citizens' group called "Kamakura Takebu", which started by cutting down and maintaining such local bamboo forests, and is working to make bamboo useful in daily life.

The other day, I went to a Kamakura Takebu event. The venue was Jochiji Temple in Kita-Kamakura.

The grounds of Jochiji Temple decorated with bamboo art

The atmosphere was different from the usual Jochiji Temple. The temple was decorated with bamboo crafts starting from the main gate. Many balls woven from thin bamboo were hanging to welcome visitors.

Workshops were held in the temple grounds to make bamboo lampshades and musical instruments, and bamboo goods were also sold. There were daily necessities such as bamboo baskets, bamboo charcoal soap, notebooks and origami made from bamboo, and bamboo pellets for cat litter boxes. I was impressed that paper and pellets could be made from bamboo, but I hope that the effective use of bamboo will become more widely known.

There were a lot of people at the event. Children seemed happy to rattle the bamboo bells they made themselves.

The sound of a simple flute was heard in the temple grounds. It was a bright and upbeat tune. It was "Little Brown Bottle," a well-known jazz standard. The flute is called a Banburina and is made of bamboo. It was a bamboo stick about 10 cm long with several holes in it. It's a slightly muffled and subdued sound compared to the clear tone of the ocarina.

The sound of the Banburina played in the temple grounds decorated with bamboo art, and children ran around. A Sunday where time passes slowly. It was a comfortable time.

Traditional Japanese flutes "Sho" were made of bamboo. They were introduced to Japan between the Asuka and Nara periods more than 1000 years ago, including the Sho, Hichiriki, and Ryuteki, which are essential for gagaku performance.

I had the opportunity to see a Sho up close. I had heard it at gagaku concerts, but only looked at it from afar, so I was very interested.

I was immediately struck by the sight of what a beautiful instrument it was. Thin bamboo sticks of different lengths are bundled together and inserted into something resembling a bowl. The bowl is decorated with Japanese lacquer "Urushi". It's a work of art that you'd want to display in a Tokonoma alcove of Japanese Tatami room.

The player holds the bowl of the "Sho" with both hands and blows into it. No, it seems that sound comes out whether player blow or inhale. I realized that this is why performer can play for a long time without taking a breath. I've been familiar with harmonicas and recorders, but there's a lot I don't know about Japanese flutes.

I listened to it for a little while. As soon as the dissonant sound reverberated in the room, the air changed as if it had been purified. I sat on the sofa and instinctively straightened up.

I was surprised to hear that the pipe organ was born when the Sho was brought to Europe, but the principle structure of the instrument is the same. Furthermore, if you enlarge the Sho, it becomes just like a pipe organ.

After returning home, I remembered. I once visited a church that had a pipe organ made from bamboo.

A church in a town near Manila in the Philippines. The bamboo pipe organ, believed to be the oldest in the world, has been played and undergoes repeated restorations for the past 200 years.

The stately church sanctuary was dimly lit with little decoration. Looking up at the pipe organ installed on the second floor, I saw a row of dull brown cylinders instead of metal pipes. It was definitely bamboo. There are traces of bamboo knots remaining on each one.

I sat on a bench in the church and listened to the performance. The tone was soft and had a wide range. It had nothing to do with the grandeur and splendor of the metal pipe organs heard in European churches; it just had a gentle and warm feeling....

The ceiling of the cathedral was covered with thin, amber-colored bamboo, and the benches were also made of bamboo. I felt a sense of nostalgia as I was enveloped in the sound of the pipe organ.

When I think about the bamboo we use in my house now... I have lots of it in the kitchen. Colanders, steamers, spatulas, and graters. Looking around the house, flower baskets, blinds, fans, and clothing baskets are all made of bamboo. But there are no instruments.

When I had the bamboo fence made for my garden, the gardener gave me some leftover short bamboo. I wonder if I can make a Banbrina out of that? It would be difficult, though.