Obon
Hello, everyone. We are in the middle of Obon holiday. Have you heard of Obon? It’s a ceremony to welcome our ancestors’ spirits to this world and show our appreciation.
I am going to describe what we normally do during this holiday.
First of all, we go to the cemetery to clean our family grave, decorate it with flowers and food, and then pray. A plant called ほおづき(Hozuki-Japanese lantern plant) if often offered as a symbol of light leading our ancestors’ soul safely back home.
We also create small animals with cucumbers and eggplants by sticking chopsticks as legs. A cucumber horse symbolizes a fast vehicle to guide our ancestors home, and an eggplant cow is used to send them back slowly to enjoy their journey back.
You might have heard about 盆踊り(Bonodori) which is a dance event for this Obon holiday. We wear 浴衣(Yukata), a summer kimono, and dance with music and sound of drums. It is for showing our welcome to our ancestors.
In essence, we celebrate Obon to recognize and show appreciation that we exist in this world thanks to our ancestors.
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