The Bamboo Grove on the Island
Why the island is called " Takegashima"?
According to the history of Shishikui Village written in the 12th year of the Taisho period (1923), the reason why the island was called " Takegashima" is because in the past, the bamboo grove on the island thrived in the wild. The island earned its name “Takegashima” or “the island of bamboo” because bamboo groves grew naturally on the island and they were too thick to cut down with an ax. It seems that the island came to be called “Bamboo Island” or “Takegashima” because the bamboo forest was incredibly thick. An examination of the geographical features reveals that Takegashima is also an island of rocks with a wide expansive rocky terrain at the base of the island. Although the island is only 0.4 km2 in area, its slopes are quite steep, as is supported by the fact that its peak is approximately 100 m above sea level.
The bamboo grove in the center of Takegashima IslandTakegashima Island has two hills that are connected from north to south to form an island that looks like a gourd. The center of the island has a hollow in the middle of the hills, which is where the bamboo grove grows. The island is 1 km long from north to south and 700 m long from east to west, and the bamboo grove covers less than 100 m square in the central part of the island. In fact, the area of the beautiful bamboo grove is limited to only about 50 square meters. Even so, the thickness and appearance of the bamboo in the central bamboo grove is spectacular, and wild deer have been spotted inhabiting the island, which is an impressive sight for visitors who come to the island.
The Beautiful Bamboo Grove in the Center of the Island
From the southern end of Takegashima to the Pacific coast in the east, the island is surrounded by numerous large and small rocks. The rocks jut out everywhere on the island, and being a remote island in the Pacific Ocean with a large difference in elevation, it is highly unlikely that a wild bamboo grove would grow only in the center of this small island naturally. The fact that a bamboo grove is growing in the middle of the island is nothing short of being mysterious.
The bamboo groves on Takegashima may have been planted by human hands back in ancient times. The fact that the bamboo grove grows only in the center of the isolated island in the South Sea where bamboo trees do not grow naturally and abundantly until they become a bamboo grove, along with the fact that there is a water discharge route from the center of the island to Bishago Iso to the west of the bamboo grove supports the evidence that people were on this island during ancient times. Stones that are thought to be top stones or directional stones serve as directional indicators from the north to south of the bamboo grove have also been found on the island. The existence of these stones suggests that the bamboo groves on Takegashima may have been planted according to a proper master plan as a result of some kind of ancient wisdom. The beauty of Takegashima is from the bamboo grove itself.