Bon Festival

     As I wrote in the following entry, my father-in-law passed away and was put in the ground in January. However, he is in his house today. I'm not kidding. It is the season of Bon Festival. You may think it is strange, but people don't visit their anscestors' tombs in this season, because their anscestors aren't there but in their former house now.
     In Buddhism, dead people are supposed to come back to their former house during the Bon Festival. Many people go back to their hometown in this season and share time and space with their anscestors. It causes serious traffic jams across the country, but I think it is an important traditional event in Japan. All generations of people in communities enjoy seeing each other and dancing the Bon Dance during the Bon Festival.
     My whole family visited my wife's original house today to attend the first Bon Festival for my father-in-law. Representatives of like 20 households around got together in front of the family altar, prayed to Amida Buddha for him and talked mainly about him over tea. This event, I think, strengthens the relationship in the neighborhood.
     The Bon Festival naturally has a religious meaning, but additionally children are looking forward to this season because they can see their cousins.