Spread of Bamboo stands in the Kinki Region

The Bamboo stands, which had been planted for agricultural uses, have been spreading from fields to hills and mountains beyond farmers’ expectation over the last 50 years. Bamboo stands yield bamboo shoots to be served as a vegetable dish (‘takenoko in Japanese’) every spring, and supply materials for bamboo crafts in various ways. Now, as bamboo products have lost their social demand, bamboo stands has been gradually abandoned. This has resulted in the wild and unfavorable spread of bamboo stands in many regions over the western half of Japan. This paper illustrates the unfavorable spread of bamboo stands regionally in the southern Kyoto from 1985 to 1999 and the Yamashiro area from 1948 to 2000 through the observation of satellite images and aerial photographs.