2010年08月16日
Today on August 16th “Daimonji Okuribi (大文字送り火)” will be held in Kyoto.
Daimonji Okuribi is the famous evening festival during Obon (お盆), Japan’s traditional summer leave period in mid August.
In the evening fires are lit on five hills around Kyoto city. Fires put on each hill write characteristic letters or figures (two of them write “大 (dai)” in Kanji), who can be seen from many places of the city. Fires are dedicated to deceased ancestors, whose dead souls are believed to come back temporarily during Obon, and return to Ano-yo (あの世, dead man’s world) when Obon ends. Five hill’s fires are put on as living people’s goodbye salute to their ancestors’ returning souls. So this festival are called “Okuribi”, that means ’sending fires’.
Looking at the festival’s feature of fire at night and the dead souls’ comeback, it may somewhat resemble western world’s Halloween. But Daimonji Okuribi doesn’t have a horrifying connotation like Halloween has, at which icons of ghosts and monsters prosper and stroll in neighborhoods.
When Obon passes, Japan’s summer ends. But very hot days still continue.
(Oda Mitsuo, the president of Asian-curd)
コメントはまだありません »
コメントはまだありません。
コメントをどうぞ
You must be logged in to post a comment.