KYOTO – The enchanting plant life of the popular Bamboo Grove Path in Arashiyama, Kyoto City, is increasingly facing serious damage from graffiti.
The path is a walking trail passing through the bamboo forest in Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, visited by domestic and international tourists alike.
A city investigation found around 350 bamboo plants on the path have been damaged since spring 2025.
On Nov 17, walking through the path revealed hiragana and kanji characters as well as other kinds of writing carved into bamboo stalks on both sides of the path, which was bustling with tourists. Some of the graffiti appeared to be names, such as “Kate” in English and “Yoshitaka” in hiragana.
A 34-year-old company employee visiting with her friend from Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, commented with disappointment: “There’s graffiti everywhere, ruining the scenery.”
According to the Kyoto city government, there is approximately 2.3ha of city-owned land along the path, with an estimated 7,000 bamboos growing naturally there.
When an official of the city government inspected the bamboo along the path on Oct 6, about 350 plants were confirmed to have been damaged.
The Kyoto prefectural police said that the graffiti could constitute destruction of property.
According to the Kyoto Botanical Gardens, while bamboo is unlikely to wither or fall following surface damage, any carvings will remain once made.
In response to the issue worsening, local associations, such as that of a nearby shopping district, have been concealing the damage with green masking tape.
Since October, warning posters in four languages – Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean – have been put on fences along the path and around 50 rickshaws, reading: “Please don’t deface the bamboo forest. Defacing the bamboo should be a crime.”
On Nov 5, city government officials and local residents held their first emergency countermeasures meeting. The decision was made to conduct a trial cutting down of 30 sq m of bamboo on city-owned land, including damaged bamboo.
While cutting down trees or bamboo is not allowed in the area in principle, the city government plans to do so as a special preservation measure, aiming to push the groves further from the path so visitors cannot physically reach the bamboo.
The wider Saga-Arashiyama area where the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest Path is located is beloved for its scenery, and has been written about in many tanka poems. The area is designated as a special zone of preservation of historic scenery under the Law on Special Measures concerning Preservation of Traditional Scenic Beauty in Ancient Capitals.
Mr Misao Hashimoto, chief of the city government’s scenic preservation division, said: “The bamboo forest is a shared property of the citizens. In particular, as the beautiful landscape of Arashiyama has been maintained through cooperation from the local community, it is extremely regrettable that it has been deliberately damaged.”
The bamboo grove has been subject to graffiti damage in the past. In 2018, the city government took action, erecting fences after around 100 bamboos were defaced.
Damage decreased due to the decline in visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. But concerned parties said graffiti increased noticeably again alongside the rise of visitor numbers. THE JAPAN NEWS/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
