夏祭り in Toronto
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Toronto, 2012.07.14
Today we attended a "夏祭り", or summertime festival, at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Center.
The event had food and music and dancing games and things you could buy. Some of the clothing was particularly nice. There was also an o-bon (お盆) ceremony, which is a bit like Hallowe'en—one prays in respect of the deceased, whose spirits are thought to return at this time of year. It was my first o-bon despite having lived in Tokyo for five years. We were never back in Mari's family's area at this time of year, and we certainly didn't mark the occasion ourselves in Tokyo.
It was fun. Except the bit where we had to take four buses to get home. But even that went remarkably swiftly.