I think it appears thicker cause there is a node so close to the end.
It does have more nodes though, I'm not real crazy about that one but they are 8 feet long and on the far end the nodes are further apart. If you compare the far ends of all 3 poles, you can see the node spacing is greater at the other end.
They will shrink a tad after drying.
I have found Madake to be very good for bows, I have never had a backing failure since using it, they are 4 inches in diameter.