One of the things which you can not see easily in Europe is the bamboo grove. Bamboo is very familiar for a life in Japan. Japanese eat bamboo shoots and use the bamboo instead of wood. Due to bamboo has a straight hole inside, it is cut in half(vertically) and used as a pipe or a bottle.
Bamboo shoots are mostly stewed with meat and vegetables together or can be steamed together with rice.
Therefore foreign tourists are looking forward to see the bamboo groves during their stays in Japan. Then, the popular place to see bamboo grove is in Kyoto. There are several places in Kyoto to see the grove but I recommend Kodaiji temple which is not so crowded as in Arashiyama district.