Shiga: Temple Priest Finds Gritty Bamboo Shoot Growing Under, Lifting Heavy Wooden Beam

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:54 JST, May 11, 2024

KUSATSU, Shiga — The vice priest of Saiho Temple in Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, found a bamboo shoot lifting a heavy wooden beam in the hills behind the temple. The beam was about 2.1 meters long and so heavy that a human would have trouble lifting it. Temple officials were surprised by the incredible strength of the bamboo shoot.

The vice priest, Tetsugen Maki, and a friend found the bamboo shoot on April 20 while taking a walk behind the temple. The bamboo’s black tip, which had apparently grown rapidly due to recent rain and abundant sunshine, was pushing up a randomly fallen beam about 50 centimeters. He observed the shoot growing bigger day by day.

This year’s bamboo shoots are in abundant supply, and a different bamboo shoot in the area was found lifting by five centimeters a different beam that weighed more than 30 kilograms. That bamboo shoot has since been harvested.

Maki said, “I feel like something good is about to happen because I found two incredibly gritty bamboo shoots.”