Obon - お盆

お盆と言うこともあって今日は墓掃除に小平まで出かけた。普段閑散としている墓地への道が、この日ばかりは車と人の流れが途切れないことにちょっと驚いてしまう。この炎天下、手桶に花束、箒を手に、黙々とお墓を目指す人々が続く。元々信心深くない日常を過ごしては来たのだが、今年は親父も死んで初盆なので両親に花くらいは持って行かないとという思いがあった。その後は引き続きカミさんの実家の方の墓にも参った。花屋に珍しく蓮の花があって、「ちょっと縁起物みたいでしょ」という誘いに乗ってそれを持って行くことにした。










Around July 15 is Obon in Japan particularly in countryside, and the family would visit their ancestor’s grave to welcome their spirits. One month later in mid August, people in major cities normally take holidays to travel back to their country villages to join another Obon, a traditional version. This is because Japan shifted its calendar system from lunar-based to solar-based 135 years ago.
I went to our graveyard today to clean up ours. The usually quiet street was full of cars and people. They typically carry a backet of flowers and a broom. I am not religious but my father died this year and I felt I could not miss his first Obon, now that my parents sleep in the grave together. We then visited my wife’s family grave, too. At the florist’s on our way, we came across with some interesting flowers. The florist said to us, “don’t you think this lotus flower indeed brings luck?”