Though it was a thing one month ago, my mother and I went to a Buddhism Temple. There is a cemetery behind the temple, and my father’s grave is there. August 18 was a little late for “Visiting a Grave in Obon”, but I chose the date. I thought it was difficult for me to call a taxi because there are so many people coming back from Tokyo area to Niigata during Obon season. But August 18 was still a busy day for the taxi company. When I made a phone call in morning hours, the person of the company told me to call again in the afternoon.
The temple is located in the middle of vast area of Niigata Plain. It is surrounded by Rice fields, and I could see some orchards of grapes and peers through the taxi window. We didn’t get in the main hall this time, but I have got in the hall many times for memorial services for my deceased father. There are thick wooden columns in the hall. And the columns have color changes at lower position. The chief priest had once told me that those color changes are traces of flood in the old times. The temple is near to the Shinano River which is the longest river in Japan. Since the main hall was built 250 years ago, it must have been some occasions of flood.
My mother and I went to the cemetery behind, and I prepared for pray. I placed two chrysanthemum bouquets right and left on my father’s grave. And then I put a fire on a bundle of Incense sticks. But I could not put a fire on three candles because of winds. Since we were making the taxi wait for us, I gave up the candles. We prayed shortly and got back to the parking lot in front of the main hall. If we had left chrysanthemum bouquets on my father’s grave, we would have made the chief priest removed them afterwards. So, I took the bouquets, brought them in front of the main hall, and offered them to the big Kan’non Statue.
About a half an hour taxi ride took us home. That’s it for the grave visiting in Obon of this summer. By the way, I have a suggestion. It is to move the time of Obon season from August to September. It is too hot to go to a temple in the current Obon season. Thanks to the global warming, now the summer heat is more and more becoming dangerous to the old people like my mother. Japan’s Obon is held in accordance with the solar calendar. If we have Obon in the lunar calendar, we will be able to go to a temple when the temperature is more comfortable in September like Chuseok in Korea.
Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning 