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1. 京銘竹を使い、六つ目編みを作成中の竹細工職人。

京都は1年の寒暖差が大きく、水質がよいことから、美しくしなやかな竹を育むといわれています。京銘竹は京都府内で育成・加工される、白竹、胡麻竹、図面竹、亀甲竹の4種。白竹は伐採後に全体を火で炙って油を抜き、天日で完全に乾燥させたもの。胡麻竹は地面に生えたままの竹の上部を切り取り、枝を払って光合成を防ぎ、半枯れにすることで表面に斑点模様を表出させたもの。図面角竹は、柔らかいタケノコのうちに木枠を被せ、四角く成長させ表面に図面柄模様を付けたもの。亀甲竹は、孟宗竹の突然変異により、節が亀甲紋様のようになった珍しい竹で、白竹同様に仕上げたもの。丁寧に手を入れて育て上げた京銘竹は、茶室をはじめとする和室の建材、茶道具、竹垣、竹工芸品などに広く使われています。通常の樹木と異なり4〜5年で成長するためエコロジーの観点からも注目度が高く、集成材やボードなど、建材としても開発が進んでいます。

Kyoto is said to grow beautiful and supple bamboo due its good water quality and the large temperature differences from one year to another. There are four types of bamboo cultivated and processed in Kyoto: shiratake, gomadake, zumenkakuchiku and kikkochiku. Shiratake is made by roasting the whole tree to remove the oil, then completely drying it in the sun. Gomadake is made by cutting off the upper part of the bamboo growing above ground, removing the branches to prevent photosynthesis, and letting it almost die to reveal a speckled pattern on the surface. Zumenkakuchiku is covered with a wooden frame when a soft bamboo shoot, then grown in a square shape with a drawing pattern on the surface. Kikkōchiku is a rare bamboo whose knot looks like a turtle shell pattern due to the mutation of Mōsō bamboo, and is finished the same way as white bamboo. Kyoto bamboo (Kyo-meichiku) is carefully cultivated and has been widely used as a material for traditional tea rooms, tea utensils, bamboo fences and bamboo crafts. Unlike ordinary trees, it grows in four to five years, so it is attracting a great deal of attention from an ecological perspective, and bamboo is being developed as a sustainable material for laminated wood and boards.