Bon festival - Homecoming of ancestors

Today I visited my uncle’s house. He is my mother’s brother and has a family Buddhist alter in his house. As the eldest son of my deceased grandparents, he and my aunt have had several kinds of Buddhist rituals in many years. Now they have Bon Festival when the spirits of our ancestors return home. Yesterday evening they burned the welcome fire at the entrance of their house by using wooden pieces like this and a plate. They are sold in every supermarket at this time of year. In some parts of Hamamatsu and some other regions in Japan, they have Bon Festival in August (old Bon). Many Japanese compmanies have their summer holidays when this old Bon is held.

When I visit them, I always make a prayer in front of the alter. This time, some paper strips of the names of the Five Tathagata received from the temple they belong to were hung from the top. And there was a cow made from an eggplant on the alter.

The cow is intended to carry our ancestors on its back. The eggplant had a longer calyx than ordinary ones; it was sold separately to be used just for this purpose. The cow had foxtail for the tail, azuki beans for the eyes, and nandina leaves for the ears. The legs and the horns were made of splittable wooden chopsticks. It had also a saddle made by my uncle who is skillful with his hands and likes a playful touch. It is unusual for an eggplant cow to have a saddle. It was well made. In front of the cow, there was a little plate with tofu, rice and thin white noodles set by my aunt. She said that the food to be placed on the alter must be vegetarian.

They said that they would go to Kamoeji Temple, a big temple near the downtown. There they will burn a fire again to send the spirits of our ancestors back to the afterlife. I hope it will be fine tomorrow. Though it is the middle of July, we still have a rainy season, which is rather unusual.