⇩⇩Read by people from 30 countries⇩⇩Part 1
Beautiful stories from far away From Japan【The taste of tempura combined with Matsuzaka Beef】Anyway, try getting a Japanese friend!【Complete version】
https://clubrosy.jp/article/699.html

How are you, readers? Now, Japan is in the “Obon” season.

What is “Obon”?  It seems that customs vary from region to region in Japan, but at least you can say “Obon” is a time the spirits of our ancestors return home.

When I was a child, Obon was a wonderful time of reunion and bonding.

 

My relatives would gather together to visit the graves of the dearly departed, and after that they’d have a banquet.

They brag about their children to their parents and grandparents, an activity which included me! It was a fun time to have a banquet with people who I wouldn’t often see.

“At this time, our ancestors will come back to this world and go back to the other world again.” I was taught.

Some people keep lanterns at home so that their ancestors will be able to return, and not get lost.

It’s traditional to make a figure out of eggplant and cucumber. The Cucumber represents a horse, so that when our ancestors come back, they can be as quick as horses. The eggplant is a cow, so that they aren’t quick to leave.

My grandparents passed away and my relatives have new extended families, so there aren’t many big gatherings nowadays, but even now, when I write this, it reminds me of them, and I realize that I won’t be able to meet those people anymore, and it makes me feel lonely.

Obon may be a custom for the people who feel like me, who cannot forget their love and sadness for the people who have passed away.

This is how I feel today.

Even if I can’t see them, my relatives are coming to visit now.

So when I talk to my family, I say things like:

“That person was a very kind person.”

I feel the same way about dogs that have been part of my family over the years, so to my dogs, I’d say this:

“All of you were good children.”

I am sad when I write this.

But, let’s eat a family-made dinner and watch an interesting movie!

It’s so hard to admit it, especially for me, but love and attachment shouldn’t be exactly the same thing.

If our ancestors and dogs see that we are happy, they will surely be happy as well, and return safely to the place they belong to now, with peace of mind, and they’ll come back again next year, in the season of Obon.

⇩⇩【The charm of tatami mats】Beautiful stories from far away From Japan
https://clubrosy.jp/article/736.html