大文字五山送り火 --- Five Mountains Fire Bon Festival

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With the fond memories that lurk around the corner of my consciousness, I came back to Kyoto with excitment and anticipation. However the unexpected is a part of the adventures. I spent hours getting lost in the Kyoto subway stations, hence missed my JET friends for a tour around the city. But I did find my way to join them for the Daimonji fire festival, which was the bomb of the summer.

Obon is a festival for Japanese to welcome their ancestors' soul on the 13th of August. Welcoming fires light up the path from the grave sites back to their houses. Sending off fires are set three days later on the 16th to illuminate the path for the ancestors back to where they came from. Gozan Okuribi is the ceremony which the five mountains are light up with huge fire symbols. Including 大（Daimonji, meaning "big"),　妙, 法 (Buddhist law), the left daimonji, the funagata (ship) and torii (shrine gate). At 8 o'clock the biggest character 大　started to light up and brighten up the sky above, conjuring spirits and energy. It's one of those times that no matter how scattered the family members are, they would go back to gather and honor their ancestors.

The riverbank was packed with people, took us a good one hour to get out. Met some cool people and had fun nonetheless. Loving Kyoto again. ^^

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Photos

Friends from Vancouver!
My first time speaking Cantonese after arrival in Japan

A cube watermelon!
It costs more than 10,000 yen. ~.~

Comments

[Sindy]

Wow, Sandra, those are some awesome pictures to show what you have been doing/ where you were (= I especially liked the fire pictures~very interesting. I also loved the cube watermelon. Is it just found in Japanese or it's just a rearity?