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camelliakyoto.bsky.social
🙏🔔THE DEAD RETURN🪦👋

For a few days in August, with the simple ringing of a temple bell, our ancestors are once again invited back to the world of the living for a brief vacation.
It is a happy reunion of remembrance, lanterns, dance and (in Kyōto) giant mountain bonfires.

#Obon #お盆 #summer #Japan
August 7, 2025 at 12:07 AM
curiousordinary.bsky.social
'The Obon Festival Dance' from the series 'One Hundred Beauties Depicting Modern and Ancient Manners and Customs' - Shodo Yukawa, 1903.
#JapaneseArt #ukiyoe #Obon
A woman dressed in blue holding a fan is dancing the traditional Bon Odori dance during the Obon festival. A string of lanterns is behind her with silhouettes of more dancers.
August 14, 2025 at 12:58 PM
ravenbranhard.bsky.social
obon lanterns glow
homage to the ancestors
who once carried us
perhaps they need no light now
but the living still do

#inkMine
#homage
#poetry
#tanka
#ancestors
#obon

🎨 Moonrise, by Uehara Konen (ca. 1900)
August 10, 2026 at 11:44 PM
camelliakyoto.bsky.social
The times are changing, and some ancestors will be traveling home in style at the end of Obon🤖🍆

#Japan #Obon #お盆
A Gundam made of eggplant, a nice twist on the 'Eggplant Oxen'. Image thanks - https://x.com/freeter_ooya
August 14, 2025 at 9:56 AM
camelliakyoto.bsky.social
🥒AN UNUSUAL FORM OF TRANSPORTATION🍆

Invited by bells and flames, the spirits of the dead are currently holidaying in this world.

But how do ancestral spirits travel between realms?

Probably not how you imagine😂...

🥒 🐎 (arriving by 'spirit horse' 精霊馬)
🍆 🐂 (returning via 'spirit ox' 精霊牛)

#Obon
A 'cucumber horse' and 'eggplant ox'. Image thanks - https://ameblo.jp/aoba-tokosya/
August 14, 2025 at 3:18 AM
camelliakyoto.bsky.social
🔎ORIGINS OF THE OKURIBI🔥

Counted as 1 of Kyōto's 4 great celebrations, the Gozan-no-Okuribi (五山送り火) was originally called Shūkyō Gyōji or Oshorai-san (宗教行事 'the ritual' - おしょらい/おしょらいさん).

Many people incorrectly call the event Daimonji (大文字), the first and most famous of the Okuribi.

#五山送り火 #Obon
Woodblock print of Daimonji alight at night. Image thanks - https://ukiyo-e.org/ Woodblock print of a procession passing over the Kamo River, with Daimonji in the background. Image thanks - https://ukiyo-e.org/ Woodblock print of Daimonji above a misty Kyoto landscape. Image thanks - https://ukiyo-e.org/ Woodblock print of Daimonji at dusk. Image thanks - https://ukiyo-e.org/
August 15, 2025 at 12:19 AM
haru-aiart86.bsky.social
お盆におじいちゃんからもらった赤い桜の花びらヘアピン🌸
「はるに似合うと思って」って……嬉しくて、すぐ着けちゃった☺️
ちょっと照れるけど、お気に入りになりました✨

I got this little red sakura petal hairpin from my grandpa during Obon🌸
He said it would suit me, so I put it on right away☺️
A little shy, but I love it!

#Japan #JapaneseCulture #Obon #Sakura #AnimeGirl
August 15, 2026 at 10:38 PM
aldila-kanata.bsky.social
#青空ごはん部 #food #obon #buddhist #vegetarian #washoku #japan
August 13, 2026 at 7:32 AM
bubuta.bsky.social
The "Obon holiday" period is
almost over💧...

Did everyone enjoy
their beer? 🍺(≧◇≦) lol

※Obon: when spirits come home

#beer #obon #お盆 #photography #aiart #aiphoto
#beachgirl #holiday #Japan #生ビール #summervibes
August 17, 2025 at 5:43 AM
eoritokunaga.bsky.social
Happy Kidlit Art Postcard Day!! I know it’s only the beginning of October, but I’m already missing the long Summer days 😭
.
.
#kidlitart #watercolor #procreate #scbwi #kidlitartpostcard #kidlitartpostcardday #fireworks #matsuri #yukata #obon #nightmarket #festival
October 2, 2025 at 1:13 PM
urochii1638.bsky.social
昨日夕方、東京はお盆。
父、母、ご先祖さまご一行お迎え。
妻のつくったおもてなしで。

Yesterday evening marked Obon in Tokyo.
We welcomed my father, my mother, and our ancestors home, with a warm and heartfelt offering prepared by my wife.

#お盆
#迎え火
#Obon
#mukaebi
July 14, 2026 at 12:57 AM
haru-aiart86.bsky.social
お盆も今日で終わり。
祖父母の家でお墓参りをして、静かにご先祖様を見送りました🌻
夏休みも後半だなぁ……。

Obon ends today.
After visiting my grandparents and paying respects at the family grave, I quietly said goodbye to Obon. 🌻
Summer break is already halfway over…

#Japan #Obon #JapaneseCulture #SummerInJapan #JapanTravel
August 15, 2026 at 10:35 PM
radareyda.bsky.social
Japanese Lanterns
Picked a nice bunch to dry for Autumn decorations; one of my favorite old-fashioned garden plants.
“Life within death”
“Guidance for spirits”
#Japaneselanterns #Obon #flowers #seedpods #bloomscrolling #offerings #oldfashioned #EastCoastKin #driedflowers #Autumn #ghostly ALT
A bunch of Japanese flower plants tied together at the top hanging upside down on old rough kitchen wall boards. The drying green stems and leaves have beautiful orange pumpkin shaped seed pods every few inches. The pods are paper-like with deep red berries inside. Some of the pods have aged more than the others and what is left of the pods are the veins of the flower pods, which look like ghostly cages with the bright red berries in them. The Japanese like to offer these at their Summer Obon festival to honor their deceased ancestors. They represent life within death- the red berries inside the ghostly dead outer shell, which is quite beautiful; the veins of the plant remaining look like lace.
September 7, 2025 at 7:23 AM
tanuki68.bsky.social
この大きな空の下、静かに手を合わせに。
夏雲が、道を見守ってくれているようでした。

Under this vast sky, we quietly put our hands together.
The summer clouds seemed to be watching over us.

#空 #雲 #夏空 #お盆 #風景写真
#sky #clouds #summer #obon #japan
夏の入道雲です。
August 13, 2025 at 11:23 PM
camelliakyoto.bsky.social
'Obon' is a shortening of 'urabon-e' (盂蘭盆會), the Japanese name for 'ullambana' (उल्लम्बन), a Sanskrit phrase which can be translated as 'hanging upside down. It referred to spirits suffering in death.

The festival developed as a means to ease the suffering of these ullambana.

#Obon #お盆 #盂蘭盆會
Sweets in the shape of bellflower. In the lunar calendar this time of year marks the transition to autumn and so many sweets begin taking their inspiration from fall. A jellied sweet with flecks of gold and coloured squares of yokan. Perfect for the season of fireworks. A brown and yellow kinton with red fruit mimicking a silver cock's comb.The owner of 'Nona' happened upon the flower whilst cleaning her family grave, and was inspired to create this sweet 'Oshorai-san' ('honored spirit'). Sweets for the Gozan-no-Okuribi. A jellied confection features a red and purple yokan imprinted with the shape of Daimonji. Beside it is a biscuit in the shape of a fan with an iced fireworks design.
August 8, 2025 at 5:26 AM
camelliakyoto.bsky.social
Obon starts early in Kyōto and lasts longer than many places.

The ringing of Rokudo Chinnō-ji's (六道珍皇寺) bell 'Mukae-gane' (迎え鐘) welcomes the spirits of the dead back to this world on August 7th.
On August 16th the Gozan-no-Okuribi (五山送り火) guides them back to the Netherworld.
#Obon #thewelcomingbell
Rokudo Chinno-ji's 'Mukae-gane', the 'Welcoming Bell'. It is rung on August 7th to welcome the dead back for a short vacation (Obon) in our world. A wall of lanterns in the main hall of Mibu-dera for Obon and the Nenbutsu dances held at this time. Rokudo Chinno-ji, close to the ancient Toribeno crematory grounds, was believed to stand at the threshold of our world and the netherworld. Daimonji is one of 5 great bonfires lit on the mountains surrounding Kyoto. Made from dozens of smaller fires, great shapes are created in the dark to 'send off' the spirits of the dead at the end of Obon.
August 7, 2025 at 12:50 AM
camelliakyoto.bsky.social
At Obon cucumbers and eggplants, given small wooden legs, begin to appear at family altars and graves.

It is said the cucumber is a horse, racing the dead quickly back to this world.
The eggplant is an oxen, slowly but reliably carrying spirits back home.

#cucumber #eggplant #Obon #お盆
A 'cucumber horse' and 'eggplant ox'. Image thanks - https://piroko0729.hatenablog.com/
August 14, 2025 at 5:21 AM
camelliakyoto.bsky.social
Buddha instructed Mokuren to make offerings to the many monks who were about to finish their Summer Retreat on the 15th day of the 7th month.

The offerings worked and his mother was released from the Realm of Hungry Ghosts.

Mokuren's dance of joy was the origin of the Bon Odori.

#Obon #お盆
August 8, 2025 at 1:17 AM
camelliakyoto.bsky.social
But why does Rokudo Chinnō-ji play such an important role at this time of year?

Long believed to stand on the borderland between the realms of the living and the dead, the temple is home to the 'Hell King' Enma Dai-Ō (閻魔大王), judge of the deceased.

#Obon #Enma #閻魔大王 #hellking
Statue of Enma (the 'Hell King') at Rokudo Chinno-ji. Photo thanks - https://uryu-tsushin.kyoto-art.ac.jp/ The main hall of Rokudo Chinno-ji. Small omikuji holder in the shape of Enma, the 'Hell King'. Statue of Ono-no-Takamura (right hand man of the 'Hell King') at Rokudo Chinno-ji. Photo thanks - https://uryu-tsushin.kyoto-art.ac.jp/
August 7, 2025 at 1:21 AM
tokyoscape.bsky.social
At a #lantern #festival back in #summer during #Obon, honoring the deceased. Traditionally, people offer symbolic horses (for a fast return), cows (for a slower one), and lanterns to light the way for spirits. 🤔...If the spirit world really exists, trust me, I won’t bother coming back once I’m gone.
A wall of illuminated yellow lanterns with black Japanese characters, arranged in a grid pattern. Three silhouetted figures stand in the foreground, observing the display.
January 12, 2025 at 12:26 AM
evanmichio.bsky.social
Cherry blossoms falling on asphalt.
#quiet #BlueSkyArtShow #sakura #obon #nature #photography #artist
July 11, 2026 at 1:51 PM
perrytrails.bsky.social
Lanterns guide the way during the ghost dances of Gujo.
🏮
#obon #bonodori #gujo #gujohachiman #Japan #VisitJapan #Travel #WorldTravel #TravelPhotography #Photography #streetPhotography #GayTravel #GayTraveling #GayTraveler #LGBTTravel #LGBTQTravel #SoloTravel #Vacation
November 20, 2025 at 4:09 PM
yokaiparade.bsky.social
obon starts today, are your vegetable animals ready?

#obon #お盆
cucumber horse and eggplant cow with yokai admiring them
August 13, 2026 at 1:06 PM
camelliakyoto.bsky.social
The eggplant 'oxen' is known as 'shōryō-ushi' (精霊牛 'spirit ox') and the cucumber 'horse' is known as 'shōryō-uma' (精霊馬 'spirit horse').
🥒🍆

Here is a great video about the 'spirit vegetables'
⬇️
youtu.be/0FoxADMvjBQ?...

#Obon #お盆 #Japan
'Horse Cucumber' and 'Eggplant Oxen' for Obon. Image thanks - https://shop.genkibatake.co.jp/blogs/column/obon?srsltid=AfmBOopIa18tQQ7TlItrKAr2FyPUqUYSei0e-iiYO2SVS9M8KJpIzKcy
August 14, 2025 at 7:05 AM
camelliakyoto.bsky.social
Mirroring the tradition at Rokudo Chinnō-ji (六道珍皇寺), for a short time Mibu-dera's (壬生寺) bell becomes 'Mukae-gane' (迎え鐘), the 'Welcoming Bell'.
Worshipers ring the bell to invite the spirits of their ancestors back to the world of the living for Obon (お盆).
#Obon #お盆
August 11, 2026 at 4:59 AM