Bamboo (Take)
In Japan, bamboo has been venerated as a symbol of vitality since ancient times and has been widely used for tools, decoration, and ornamentation
Take (bamboo) is a general term for large-sized evergreen woody plants of the subfamily Bambusoideae. Small bamboo plants are called sasa. About 1,400 species in 116 genera are known throughout the world. Species found in Japan include moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), Henon bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis), Japanese timber bamboo (Phyllostachys bambusoides), black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra), and fishpole bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea), among others.
Bamboo has a height of from one to over twenty meters. Some species spread via subterranean rhizomes to form sparse groves, while others are densely populated with culms (rootlets). A bamboo plant takes several decades to flower, and after flowering, all the culms connected to the series of rhizomes die. Young shoots of bamboo such as moso bamboo can be eaten as bamboo shoots. Bamboo is used as rods and for building materials, farm tools, fishing equipment, toys, musical instruments, tea ceremony utensils, ikebana, crafts, and ornaments.
Japanese timber bamboo has existed in Japan since traditional times, and Henon bamboo has been confirmed as present in Japan in the middle of the eighth century. Moso bamboo is said to have became widespread in Japan when the Satsuma Shimazu clan imported it via Ryukyu in the middle of the eighteenth century.
In the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters, ca. 712), there is the story that bamboo shoots grew from a bamboo comb discarded by Izanagi, the Shinto god who, with his sister, created Japan. In the Man'yoshu (Collection of Myriad Leaves, after 759), there is a description of a Shinto ritual that used bamboo bracelets made by passing a chord through small bamboo rings. This use of bamboo arose because bamboo grows fast and keeps green even in the cold and thus was believed to have spiritual power owing to its considerable vitality. The use of bamboo to decorate the front of a gate for New Year's and as a decoration for Tanabata (the 7th of the lunar Seventh Month, when the cowherd star and the weaver-girl star meet in the sky) perhaps derives from this same belief.
From the statement in Taketori monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, early Heian period) that "bamboo was used for various things," we can infer that bamboo was a useful material from an early age. In particular, bamboo was used to make musical instruments such as the sho (mouth organ), flute, and shakuhachi (end-blown flute). These wind instruments were called take, to distinguish them from stringed instruments, which were called ito (threads).
Bamboo has been written about in many poems, such as the following one by Otomo no Yakamochi: "The faint sound of the wind blowing through the clump of bamboo growing in my house, will I hear it again this evening?" In such attributive forms as sasu take no and nayu take no, take was used as a pillow word (customary epithet) in poetry, and in the Heian period, yo, meaning bamboo segment, was used in poetry as a pivot word, or word with a double meaning. In haiku, take figures in seasonal phrases such as take no haru (bamboo spring) and take no aki (bamboo autumn).
Bamboo is also frequently used in decorations. It appears in such motifs as shochikubai (pine, bamboo, and plum tree) and umekikurantake (plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, orchids, and bamboo). And it is also the subject of many flower and bird paintings. The Ogiebushi-style ballad "Matsu, take, ume" is well known as a celebrative song about the pine, bamboo, and plum tree. In the field of family crests, a crest of bamboo and sparrows, a crest of bamboo grass and sparrows, and a crest of three bamboo rings were used by the Uesugi and Date clans.
Bamboo is planted on the slopes of river banks to prevent soil erosion. Bamboo is also used for aesthetic and practical purposes, such as for shade, as a garden plant, to firmly plant garden stones, and as bonsai.
Related People, Things and Events
Books
史書・古典に見える竹
A variety of albums (books that explain the art of drawing through illustrations)
竹の栽培、竹の用材
Related Works
Bamboo drawings in paintings
Bamboo used as a material
Drawings of bamboo on clothing
Bamboo drawings on craft works (ceramics)
Bamboo drawings on craft works (lacquer works and metal works)
Videos
Past Exhibitions
| Title | shusai | Place | open | close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 群馬県立近代美術館 | 2000/6/24 | 2000/7/23 | ||
| 京都文化博物館 | 2002/4/2 | 2002/6/30 | ||
| たけはら美術館 | 2005/4/7 | 2005/5/26 | ||
| 東京国立博物館 | 2005/11/1 | 2005/12/25 | ||
| 静嘉堂文庫美術館 | 2006/2/11 | 2006/3/26 | ||
| 横山大観記念館 | 2007/7/12 | 2007/9/30 | ||
| 福島県立博物館 | 2007/7/21 | 2007/9/17 | ||
| 東京国立近代美術館工芸館 | 2008/12/20 | 2009/2/22 | ||
| 草雲美術館 | 2008/12/27 | 2009/2/22 | ||
| 本間美術館 | 2010/8/11 | 2010/9/14 | ||
| 大分県立芸術会館 | 2012/9/12 | 2012/10/8 | ||
| 福岡県立美術館 | 2012/6/19 | 2012/6/24 | ||
| 資生堂アートハウス | 2014/4/8 | 2014/6/29 | ||
| 大和文華館 | 2014/2/21 | 2014/3/30 | ||
| 大分市美術館 | 2016/4/12 | 2016/7/10 | ||
| 根津美術館 | 2016/1/9 | 2016/2/14 | ||
| 大分市美術館 | 2017/9/26 | 2018/1/8 |
Institutions Holding Related Materials
竹専門の植物園。約500種類のタケ類を栽植。園内の竹の資料館では、竹笹の標本、民芸品、生活用具、茶道具など竹に関するあらゆる分野の展示物を陳列する。
笹類専門の植物園。国内および海外の笹類を中心に、100種を超えるクマ笹の仲間を集める。植物園エリアは回遊式数寄屋庭園となっており、さまざまな視点から笹の群落が楽しめる。
園内に竹・笹46種の見本林があり、見学可能。
京都府立植物園内にあり、庭園用、竹材、食用など、生活に関わりの深い有用竹笹類約70種を植栽。
全国各地から収集した約110種類の竹を「生態園」に植栽。「竹の資料館」には、京銘竹、エジソン電球、竹の生理・生態を説明するパネル、 京都の伝統的竹製品などが展示されている。
生活用品からインテリア用品、名工の美術工芸品まで、別府竹細工の数々を展示。
「竹林園」は竹を中心に構成された回遊式日本庭園。約4ヘクタールの園内に国内外から集められた160種類を超える竹類が植栽されている。
林野庁のホームページ。日本に生息する主な竹の種類、竹の性質、伝統的な用途、新たな用途などについて解説。
農林水産省によるサイト。生物としての「タケ」に焦点を当て、国内で生育しているタケの種類や特徴、さらにはタケの不思議な生態に迫る。
References
- 「竹」の項
- 「竹」の項
- 日立デジタル平凡社,平凡社
- 小学館
- 「竹」の項