This past week was Obon in Japan. Obon is a Japanese tradition where it is believed that ancestors' spirits come back to their homes to be reunited with their family during Obon and pray for the spirits. It is celebrated with family gatherings and many people returning to their hometowns.
Obon is a weeklong celebration and begins with Mukea-bon. Mukea-bon entails lighting chocin lanterns and placing arrangements of flowers by the butsudan (Buddhist altar) in your home, and then visiting ancestors' graves to invite the spirits back to your home for the week. Obon ends with okuri-bon, the guiding of your ancestors' spirits back to their graves by painting the family crests on chocin lanterns and placing them in the cemeteries. Throughout the week individual towns and villages will have bon-odori (folkdance) festivals. On Saturday night we attended a bon-odori festival with another one of the American expat families in the little town of Taksura.
Entrance to the festival
Decorated shrine
Japanese taiko drum presentation
Almost all of the children were dressed in their yukatas (summer kimono). These children were siblings and so cute that I asked if I could take a picture of them. My Japanese is so bad that their father thought I wanted him to take a picture of Julia and Luke. After a little bit a hand motions I was able to communicate that I wanted to take a picture of his children, but by that time his children were a little bit confused!
Festival gathering around the yugara stage.
The sign was beautifully lit as we were leaving.
The kids and I had a great time learning and participating in some traditional Japanese folkdances, watching the fireworks, and buying lots of yummy little treats from little street vendors.
You are having so many interesting experiences!
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