Obon
Written by: adekun on 16 August, 2007 8:23 pm - Filed under: blog ?
The Bon Festival held since the weekend has ended. It is a time where families unite to venerate their ancestors. Graves (haka) are cleaned and at some point, a local Bon dance (bon odori) is performed.
After a tiff with the Nemesis, we went down the road to the gathering. It was one of those times where I was questioning my reason. Is the Japan escapade the better picking for the three of us?
I couldn’t get any decent shots or really capture the atmosphere of the event, but it hit the spot.
Most of the families from the immediate neighbourhood congregated and danced around a Taiko drum in the centre. It serves as a celebration and reminder of the sacrifices made. Bamboo sticks were handed around, and it seemed a little like Morris dance, without partners and bells. After a few dances, including Tanko Bushi where the motions of coal mining played out, everybody sat down talked and drunk the free beer – fruit juice for the children.
Meg Wolff
19 August, 2007 #
Hello,
I found your site from Globe of Blogs…very interesting. I am American and lived in Korea many years ago, so I visited Japan many times.
I am interested in organic gardening (eating organic food), so this caught my attention.
Do you know of Shindofuji Macrobiotic School in Osaka?
Check out my Weblog at:http://www.becoming-whole.com
I am bookmarking your interesting site.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Meg Wolff
adekun
20 August, 2007 #
Osaka is about four hours away and the nearest big city. Yet to stretch my legs and explore and have not heard of the Shindofuji school. Although I’m more toward the “everything in moderation” outlook, it would be good for me to find people of a similar position. Japan always will, I think, strike me as a country of opposites.
Seems of little point to choose a macrobiotic diet and overlook the organic produce. I wonder in practice, if followers (that makes it sounds a bit like a cult) buy veg from the supermarket and not really question the methods behind it.
The tobacco plants grown locally are sprayed with all sorts, in addition to the usual spraying and once harvested the carrots go in.