Bamboo Proverb｜The story of Bamboo
Bamboo is used for musical instruments such as the shakuhachi and shinobue, and has also been an indispensable part of Japanese life. In Japan, there are many proverbs associated with bamboo. Here are some of them.
竹馬の友（Chikuba no tomo）
Friends from childhood who played together on stilts. Childhood friend
Stilts are bamboo playground equipment that children use outdoors. They walk on it with footholds attached to bamboo. Stilts are difficult to use unless you have a good sense of balance. We use to compete with each other by raising the position of our feet higher and higher. However, these days, few children play on stilts anymore.
破竹の勢い（Hachiku no ikioi）
To be so vigorous that it cannot be contained. To go forward at a furious pace.
This proverb is often used. Bamboo has many nodes and is difficult to split. But if you use a knife to break even one node, you can easily finish the rest of the bamboo. It is used as follows: "That company is growing at a breakneck pace," or "He became a star at a breakneck pace.
蛇は竹の筒に入れてもまっすぐにならぬ
（Hebi wa take no tsutsu ni iretemo massugu ni naranu）
A snake will not go straight in a bamboo tube. A metaphor for the fact that those who are born with bad character are hard to correct.
I had never heard this proverb before! I think it's a very Japanese proverb that emphasizes discipline.
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