Nagaokakyo

This is the draincover for the city of Nagaoka, the place that was briefly the capital of Japan before it moved to Kyoto. The design shows bamboo and bamboo shoots (takenoko) a major product of the area.

The hills behind the town are covered almost exclusively in bamboo and there are plenty of trails and small roads that let you walk through the area.

I have an earlier post on takenoko here

Whereas we don't maintain the bamboo in any way, other than harvesting the root and the poles, here the bamboo is cultivated.

One method seems to be layering rice straw with soft earth. In places this has built up to a depth of 2 meters with narrow paths between.

The bamboo sculptures at Komorikate Shrine were popular with you, so here is a close-up of the tiger, made completely out of bamboo save for the glass eyes....