Sagano Bamboo Grove

In front of you is the Sagano bamboo path, about 400 metres between Nonomiya and the Ōkōchi villa. Stop for a moment and listen: the rustle of the leaves and the knocking of the stalks when the wind blows are the real stars of this place.

1A landscape you listen to

In 1996 Japan’s Environment Agency chose a hundred soundscapes the country should preserve, from more than 700 proposals sent in by the public. The whisper of the Sagano bamboo was one of them. It was a way of reminding people that pollution can also be noise, and that some sounds are part of a place’s identity.

2A plant that never stops

Bamboo is not a tree but a giant grass. In spring its shoots grow at an astonishing speed, reaching their full height in just a few weeks. Kyoto people have used it for centuries for fences, baskets, tea ceremony utensils and, of course, for cooking the young shoots, takenoko. Look at the low fences along the path: they are made of bamboo branches tied by hand.

For centuries Sagano was a retreat for aristocrats, monks and poets, far from the noise of the capital. At the end of the path is the villa of Ōkōchi Denjirō, a star of samurai films, who spent some thirty years creating its gardens.

The stalks are fragile: carving names into them damages them and is forbidden. Enjoy the grove with your eyes and ears only.

3What to look for

• The fences of branches, bamboo tied by hand.
• The nodes on the stalks, marking each section of growth.
• The filtered green light, which changes with the time of day.