Back to O-Bon!

Aloha from Joetsu City in Japan!

The first day of O-Bon has just begun since yesterday, August 13th.   This is the busiest day for most Buddhist temples in Japan.  People usually start to come to temple as early as 4:30 a.m. for cleaning their family-grave stones and then come back later to welcome their ancestors. 

 

Because my father was busy visiting members for home services on this day,   I was in charge of offering prayers for the visiting families at the temple.   I was also asked to pray for the families who cannot come to the temple.  On the first day, I was honored to have 25 services and asked one of the membes if I could take a photo of the grave stone.  I explained that I watned to introduce a traditional way of decoration later at my blog.   I' m very grateful for Kusama family who has taken photos of myself during the service.  

The bamboo decoration is called `Kekkai` in Japanese.  Kekkai literally means `Connecting World.`  It is like a gate between this world and thar world.  And lantern is for both welcoming and sending off the spirits of ancestors.

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