Why bamboo?

In Japan bamboo has been widely used for many centuries for craft works, building material, fodder, food, and so on, and it used to be an essential existence in people’s lives. In recent years, however, against the background of the emergence of plastics and other chemical products, the increase of imported bamboo shoots, and other factors, the bamboo industry itself has declined, and many bamboo forests have not been used effectively and have been neglected. For this reason, bamboo, which has amazing growth, has invaded fields and mountains one after the other, forcing other trees to perish, causing landslides, and so on. Such phenomena have come to be known as “bamboo disasters.” Focusing on bamboo, which is widely distributed not only in Japan but also in Asia and throughout the world, the EDS Bamboo Design Project aims to realize the effective use of bamboo and use it to assist developing countries.

This map shows the worldwide distribution of bamboo plants and bamboo grass. Bamboo grows widely in the tropical zone centering on the equator. Despite the fact that it is a relatively cold area within this zone, bamboo also grows in Japan as an exception.