bamboo

i've always loved bamboo. we brought some back from Japan, when i was a kid (not an entirely legal operation, apparently), and planted it in the garden. with the years, they have even grown thicker, so as to produce the variety known as 'take' (ie, the real stuff).

last year, my friends took me to a bamboo museum, in Shizuoka. it was a small place but every square metre was covered in different types (striped, patterned, black, yellow, green, etc - some you can see below). it was totally amazing, not least because of the obscure location (behind a factory in a small town near Mt Fuji).

nevertheless, nothing can replace the huge bamboo forests to be found in various parts of Japan. i walked around one when i was about 7 (there's a funny story about a snake, but you'll have to wait for that), and was entranced by it. i've since only seen them on tv, but i dream of a day i can go back and take millions more pictures...