THE BAMBOO FOREST

Originally published in The Australian newspaper, November 2013.

At the Nison-in Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Kyoto, I am instructed to ring the large happiness bell three times before setting off on my walk through the Sagano Bamboo Forest. This is the greenest place imaginable. Maples cover the hillside and moss carpets the undulating ground. I make my way up a very steep and rocky pathway flanked on both sides by grey-green gravestones. Soon I am swallowed by a forest of bamboo stalks - smooth, thick and milky jade - looming so high they block out any light. There are a few others making their way along the wide path that cuts through the 16sq km forest, but they are quiet and the feeling of serenity is heightened by the whispering of the wind through the swaying bamboo, a sighing apparently declared by the government as one of the "must-be-preserved sounds of Japan". At the end of the long walk I buy an ice cream; at the equivalent of $7 it's expensive but the old lady who owns the cart is so polite and friendly I don't mind. In fact, I even feel strangely happy about it; that bell I rang two hours ago must have worked.