Bamboo

Visitors to Kyoto (and to Japan more generally) tend to be struck by the stands of bamboo that are a characteristic feature of the indigenous vegetation. From the upstairs back balcony of our house you can see a sizable bamboo grove that is at the corner of the grounds of the Silver Temple:

Glimpses of bamboo can also be seen down alleyways and in back gardens elsewhere in our neighborhood:

Finally, here is a photo I took on Sunday evening before picking up the girls from their party, a shot of a Buddhist temple and its adjoining bamboo groves in the hills north of Kyoto: