Embrace the Elegance of Bamboo: Unraveling the Marvels of Take

Hi 　everyone how are you? 　Today’s topic is ” Take (Bamboo) “, with which we will see how important it is for our life.

Take (Bamboo) has made a great contribution to our lives!

For example, building materials, interior materials, pipes and containers, bundling materials, ropes, crafts and daily necessities, stationery, toys, fishing equipment, armor and sporting goods, food ingredients, medicines, textile materials, biofuels, sterilization, deodorant, insect repellent, etc..　you name it.

Speaking of bamboo, we can think instantly of Panda that they like to eat them all the time, but on reflection, in studying them deeper, they are originally omnivorous animals.

A stand of bamboo thrusts upwards towards the sky. The stems are slender and elegant, their surface a vibrant fresh green, the leaves rustling softly in the breeze.

For people in our country, the beautiful colour and gentle whisper of bamboo have a special place in their hearts.

Because it is so light, strong and easy to work, bamboo makes a very versatile material. Since anciet times, it has played a central role in people’s lives in Japan.

These baskets are for displaying flower arragements. Bamboo’s innate flexibility is put to superb use in weaving these elegant forms.

The walls of many houses in Kyoto have low curbing fences known as inu-yarai, which protect the walls and stop them from getting splattered with mud. They make a graceful addition to these traditional street scenes.

What’s “Shishi-odoshi”?

Shishi-odoshi are lengths of bamboo that slowly fill with the water and then empty out, making a knocking sound. In the past, they were used to scare away animals and birds, so some say that Shishi-odoshi is a kind of scarecrow, which is used to scare away crows in the rice fields.

But now people just like the rhythmic sound.

Bamboo grows very rapidly, with some species gaining a meter or more per day. Because of its remarkable vitality and strength, the people of ancient Japan revered bamboo as having mysterious powers.

The Tanabata Festival is celebrated on July the seventh. Legend has it that two lovers, represented by the stars Vega and Altair in the Milky Way, are only allowed to meet once a year on the seventh night of the seventh month.

On this day, people write their wishes for the future on slips of paper and tie them to bamboo branches. It’s believed that ancestral spirits which dwell inside the bamboo leaves will make these wishes come true.

For further information, please visit the blog “Tanabata“, thanks

In November, shrines across Japan hold festivals called Tori-no-Ichi. Many people come to buy bamboo rakes adorned with models of objects of great value.

Rakes are tools used for gathering things together, whether in cleaning up the yard or working in the fields.

Eventually, they came to symbolize the wish to rake in good fortune as well. These decorative rakes are considered important amulets that bring success in business.

To this day, bamboo is still considered a symbol of good furtune and it features in many celebrations and rituals.

What’s bamboo shoots/sprouts?

Bamboo shoots or bamboo sprouts are the edible shoots (new bamboo culms that come out of the ground) of many bamboo species.

They are used as vegetables in numerous Asian dishes and broths. They are sold in various processed shapes, and are available in fresh, dried, and canned versions.

Raw bamboo shoots contain cyanogenic glycosides, natural toxins also contained in cassava.

The toxins must be destroyed by thorough cooking and for this reason fresh bamboo shoots are often boiled before being used in other ways. The toxins are also destroyed in the canning process.

Finally, have you ever tried the bamboo shoots /sprouts or baby as shown below image, they are really yummy, nummy and scrumptious!

If you havn’t yet tried to have a taste of that, I’d like to recommend you to do that once in your life. Never forget the elegant taste and elegant sound of Shishi-odoshi!