Kyoto Okuri-bi
[Employee Posts] Aug 19, 2010
< The Bon Fire Ceremony ( Okuri-bi ) in Kyoto City >
Photograph: Mr.S.Hirai of Daico MFG.OB
(The Bon Ceremony)
In old times, ancestral spirits and departed souls were believed
to return to their families during this period.
It is festival for welcoming them home,making offering to them
and holding memorial services.
People pay a visit to the family grave and pray for the repose of
the dead, offering candles and bunches of flowers and burning
incense sticks(senko). It is customary in many districts to make
bonfire for welcoming(mukae-bi) the ancestral spirits.
On the last evening of the festival,bonfires for speeding them back
(okuri-bi) to their world are also made in some districts.
The Bon Fire Ceremony in Kyoto City is Okuri-bi.
