The Obon Festival season is very important for the people of Kyoto as it is a time to remember and pay respect to your ancestors.
One the 16th August, which happened to be yesterday, you could see 5 mountains of Kyoto light up with fire. This is to show the way back to the World beyond to our ancestors who had come back to this World for a brief time to spend time with the living. The fires which are light up from 8PM take the shape of 5 different things.
The Japanese Kanji Character for BIG「大」(there are 2 of these), the characters Myouhou「妙法」, along with the Torii Gate shape「鳥居」, and the boat shape「船」.
There are 3 stories on how this festival or ritual started, but one of them is dated way back to the 800’s. According to this story, 「大」represents ONE (一） PERSON(人）, and when a person is about to pass on to the next world, that person should listen to a Buddhism chant called Myouhou, then bow before the Torii Gate, and finally take the boat to the next world.
Even though it is sad to have a loved one pass away, it is so great to see that they are all put on to this road and taken peacefully into the next world.
When you are next in Kyoto, make sure that you look for the giant Kanji Characters or shapes carved into the mountains of Kyoto, as you can see these even during the day.
Comments are closed