Obon is the day when ancestors come home.

The days vary from region to region, but August 13 to 15 is お盆 Obon in Japan.

Most companies are closed during this period, and many people who live far away from their parents' homes go home. However, it seems that many people have given up on returning home this year due to the coronavirus infection situation.

For me, Obon was a day for relatives to gather and for the family to visit the graves. Obon is an event when the souls of ancestors come back and stay for a couple of days.

We clean the graves, decorate them with flowers, and prepare to welcome our ancestors.

The supermarkets are lined with flowers to offer to the deceased.

Supermarkets also sell these offerings. Cucumbers, eggplants, and hozuki.

By the way, have any of you ever seen the anime or manga of "March comes in like a Lion"?

In this manga, there is a scene that explains how to spend Obon.

We light fires to welcome our ancestors and to see them off.

迎え火(mukae-bi) the welcoming fire

We light a fire at the entrance to the house to mark the return of our ancestors.

送り火(okuri-bi) the Farewell Fire

To send souls out of this world to the other world again

Vegetables offering to the gods

Cucumber horses

When we welcome our ancestors, we decorate cucumbers to look like horses so that they can come back quickly.

eggplant cows

When we send off our ancestors, we offer them eggplant that looks like a cow. This is done in the hope that the ancestors will return as slowly and safely as possible.

I love these quiet and gentle scenes in "March comes in like a Lion".

If you like Japan, you should definitely watch it.

Click here to read about Kyoto's major event, the Gozan-no-Okuribi.

🔶Gozan-no-Okuribi (Bonfire of the Five Mountains)

Comments

Yebisu beer speciality bar in Kyoto

Does anyone here like beer? I like Yebisu beer the best. What is Yebis? Yebisu is the name of this god. He is the god of good fortune who brings prosperity in fishing and business. Yebisu Bar Kyoto Yodobashi In front of Kyoto station, there is a Yebisu beer speciality bar. In this bar, we can enjoy some kind of Yebisu beer. Here is the menu. There are so many different kinds, it's hard to decide. I chose one based on the chart for acidity and richness. It looked so good that I forgot to take a picture and just took a sip.😂 The beer foam is fine and delicious! Yebisu floated up from the coaster after I enjoyed beer.💕 There is an Yebisu figurine at the counter. . If you look closely, you'll see that Ebisu is holding a beer! Hahaha🤣 Offering money to the gods is probably the Japanese style. May you be blessed.✨ −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−− Yebisu Bar Kyoto Yodobashi Address Kyoto Yodobashi 1F, 59...

Why don't Japanese people say "I love you"? (3)

Today's article is a continuation of the previous article, "Why don't Japanese people say I love you? This is the third article in the series. If you haven't read it yet, please read it from the beginning. 今日の記事は先日の「日本人はなぜ愛してると言わないのか」というテーマの続きです。今回はシリーズ3回目の記事です。まだ読んでいない方は、初めから読んでみてください。 🔶 1回目の記事はこちら 🔶 2回目の記事はこちら In my previous article, I talked about the cultural background of Japanese people's understanding of other people's emotions through trivial facial expressions and actions. 日本人が相手の感情を些細な表情や行動で理解する文化的背景について、前回の記事でお話しました。 Due to our cultural background and education, I believe that Japanese people have a very high capacity for empathy. I have often heard people who have traveled to Japan say that many people are kind to them when they visit Japan. This may be because we Japanese feel as if we are the ones who are in trouble when people around us are in trouble. 文化的な背景や教育の影響で、日本人の共感する力はとても高いと思います。よく日本に行くと親切にしてくれる人が多いと、日本に旅行に来た方が言うのを聞いたことがあります。これは周りの人が困っ...

Read Japanese classic literature for free

Aozora Bunko is a public domain e-book. Reference : 青空文庫 https://www.aozora.gr.jp/ Why is it free？ Aozora Bunko stores two types of works: those whose copyrights have expired 50 years after the author's death, and those whose copyright holders have decided that it is okay to let people read them via the Internet. Tips for beginners l earning JapaneseSome of the older works have a slightly different wording than the modern ones, so beginners in learning the language need to be very selective. However, there are many wonderful works that will move you. How to search the books If you know the title or author's name, you can use the search box in the upper right corner to find it. If you have too many to find one book, I recommend children's books. Here is a list of children's literature novels. https://yozora.main.jp/9/1/ndck913.html Find the ones you like. I will be happy to make recommendations based on your preferences. I would be very happy i...

From Japan with Love

Search This Blog