In the Bamboo Forest

We visit the Bamboo Forest in Rakusai Park. There are over 100 different types of bamboo. We learn that bamboo can grow 1.20 meters in a day. That's how tall Salia is right now.

In the forest, the bamboo trees clatter against each other. The wind rustles through the leaves. It's bamboo shoot harvest time. When we visit Take-san (Robin's supervisor from the Waldorf School in Kyotanabe) on one of the following days, we'll also taste them. Similar to asparagus, less bitter, and milder and sweeter in taste. Not comparable to the bamboo shoots you can eat in Asian restaurants.

We take a nice stroll with Take-san and his family. We walk to an old sake brewery, which is now a shrine. He shows us how to properly enter a shrine (with a slight bow), then throw a coin into the designated box (while clapping twice and bowing deeply), and how to let the gods know that we're here (ringing the bell, praying, and giving thanks). When we're done, we bow again. At the Torii gate (derived from the word 'tori,' which means bird), the gate at the entrance of the temple, either made of stone or painted vermilion red, we bow again. The gate separates the human world from the divine realm.