Food culture 101: 竹の子 (Bamboo shoots)

You may remember reading about Bamboo shoots in Recipes 101:  Lesson 2 http://zackstudios.blogspot.com/2011/04/recipes-101-lesson-2-bamboo-shoots.html

Perhaps you've been inspired to try the recipes out yourself. Maybe you're thinking

"How do I get myself some bamboo shoots?"

Well, here's how:

Step 1: Find your local bamboo forest (and make sure you are allowed to forage there)

Step 2: Find the poor baby bamboo shoot that hasn't had a chance to lead a long and happy life.
After that fleeting moment of guilt about eating the bamboo's young, wrench it up from the ground.

(No, not that long green stalk. You can't eat that. No, not the brown things. Those are dead leaves.
Yes, that one in the middle of the photo.)  

Step 3: Get other people to hand over their bamboo shoots should you not manage to locate any.
The blog will look less empty that way.

Step 4: Take a close up, artistic picture of the bamboo shoots. That way, they will look more impressive when they prove too small for actual consumption.