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Kumazasa beneath Japanese Larches on Mount Nyukasa, Japan
入笠山のカラマツ林に広がるクマザサ｜長野県富士見町
The trail to nearby Nyukasa Marsh passes through a quiet forest of slender Japanese larches, with the entire forest floor carpeted in dwarf bamboo. This ground cover is commonly called kumazasa (隈笹・クマザサ) in Japanese.
When I first heard the name kumazasa, I assumed it was written 熊笹; literally “bear bamboo.” The interpretation seemed plausible: this dwarf bamboo carpets mountain forests where bears live, and I imagined that its leaves might even form part of their diet.
My father-in-law, however, corrected me. The traditional spelling is 隈笹, and the name has nothing to do with bears. Instead, it refers to the pale border, or kumadori, that forms around the leaves when their edges wither and turn white during winter.
Botanically, true kumazasa is generally identified as Sasa veitchii. In everyday Japanese, however, the name is sometimes used more loosely for several similar-looking species of dwarf bamboo. For that reason, identifying the exact species was a little difficult for a laymen like myself.
Interestingly, my first encounter with kumazasa leaves was not on a mountainside but at a traditional Japanese restaurant. The leaves are often placed beneath sashimi as an attractive serving liner and are also used to wrap regional sushi, rice dumplings, and other foods. In addition to providing a clean presentation, they impart a subtle fragrance and have traditionally been valued for helping food remain fresh.
I have also bought traditional rice balls, or onigiri, wrapped in kumazasa leaves. Whether or not the leaves offered much practical benefit in preserving the rice, they gave it a light, pleasant fragrance. That scent remains closely tied to memories of sharing a quiet lunch break with my border collie while climbing toward a mountain summit, and at other times, while exploring a rocky coastline.
Full write-up (1-minute read), Google Maps Links, and sources for a deeper dive: https://www.pix4japan.com/blog/20260609-fujimi
- Location: Suwa Village, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
- Timestamp: 2026/06/09・12:29
- Fujifilm X100V with 5% diffusion filter
- ISO 160 for 1/60 sec. at ƒ/2.0
- Velvia/Vivid film simulation
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