Japanese Monks Cutting Bamboo with Swords - Takekiri-eshiki

In June, a group of Japanese Buddhist monks on Mt Kurama north of Kyoto cut bamboo stalks in a ritual to bring about good harvests to the area. The festival goes back over a thousand years to the 9th Century when according to legend a monk encountered two giant snakes. One he killed with a prayer but the other he spared on the condition the snake would protect the waters of the mountain.