Obone and the YSA

Friday night we went to Iidabashi for the festival of souls or Obon which is an annual Buddhist event to commemorate ancestors.  It is believed that every year during Obon the ancestors return to the world in order to visit their relatives and to gain peace. Lanterns are hung to guide the ancestors' spirits, Obon dances are performed, graves are visited and food offerings are made at temples and in some homes' altars for the spirits of the ancestors.. Floating lanterns are put into rivers, lakes, and seas in order to guide the spirits back into the world but we haven't seen the floating lanterns.

There is a story or legend behind the Obon festival that there was a Buddhist monk named Mokuren. After his mother’s death, he had a vision that her mother’s soul was not in peace because of the life she lived on earth. He asked his Guru how he could help his mother. His Guru told him he had to perform good deeds in order to balance his mother’s bad deeds so that her soul could get peace. Mokuren followed his teacher's advice and when he realized that his mother's soul was now at peace due to his good deeds, he broke into a joyful dance of relief that is known as the Bon dance so that is one of the reasons why they do the dancing at the festival.

Someone wrote in wikiipedia that the large hats cover the dancers faces to hide them from the wrath of the gods they hope to appease.

 

We never could find out why they wore these scarves like this.

There were lots of loud drums at the festivals and in the parade.

After the festival, we walked past the Tokyo Train Station, one of the largest in Tokyo, built as a government building in the early 1900s and many years later reconstructed as an ultramodern train station in central Tokyo.

Here's the festival at Ebisu which we walked to on Saturday night. it is said that besides being the custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors,this has also evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves.  It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years 

SQUID!  Don't try this at home!

Here's our friends and fellow missionaries, the Ricks, who had a cute little girl in her Yukata sitting by them.

Many join in the great circle around the yagura which is

supposed to be symbolic of human cooperation.

Here's a thought about Obon that someone wrote:

"Obon season is a time to express our gratitude to loved ones who have passed on before us. Without them, we would not be who we are today, due to the basic tenet of interdependence. We would not be where we are and we would not be able to do the things we do to enjoy life. Just think about the number of people involved in creating each of us. If we go back several generations, we can calculate that there were many, many people, starting with our two parents, their parents, etc.

Since we’re all influenced by a countless number of beings, our interconnections, and therefore our debt of gratitude, is without bounds. Thus, we hold an Obon memorial service to enable people to pay tribute to the departed. "

We attended a Young Single Adult activity on a Sunday at the apartment of Brett and Bonnie Humphrey in Tokyo.  They invited us to speak to them so we told them to find a good companion and get married but I think they're just having too much fun to really settle down.

Here are the young single adults again.  Actually we told them how important it is to endure to the end, not only in marriage but in whatever you do in life--mission, college, etc..  Endure doesn't mean dealing only with challenges, but rather it means having the strength and endurance to remain committed to what you believe in no matter what the world or those around you may say.  We all need to hope, courage, and faith that we can endure whatever comes our way.  

The Imperial Palace Gardens

On Saturday, we decided to go to the Imperial Palace (Kokyo) which is located on the former site of the Edo Castle.  There is a large park area surrounded by moats and massive stone walls and is located in the center of Tokyo and it is only about 4 miles from our apartment.  A different Edo castle used to be the seat of the Tokugwa shogun in Kyoto and the shogun ruled Japan from 1603 until 1867. In 1868, the shogunate was overthrown and the capital and imperial residence was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo.  In 1888 the construction of the new Imperial Palace was completed.  The palace was destroyed during World War II and was rebuilt in the same style afterwards.

All the water you will see in the photos with water are of the moat which is huge and surrounds the Imperial Palace grounds.

At the Satosakurda-man gate to the Imperial Palace grounds.

We took this photo so you can see how massive the doors are in length and in width.

This is the Nijubashi, two bridges that form an entrance to the inner palace grounds.  The stone bridge in front is called Meganebashi (Eyeglass Bridge) for its looks.   Everyone was getting their photo taken in front of it, so we decided we better do that, too! The inner grounds of the palace are only open to the public on January 2nd for a new year's greeting and December 23rd for the Emperor's birthday. The Emperor and his family make a few appearances on a balcony but our friends went last year and they said there was such a massive amount of people that they could hardly move let alone see the royal family so we didn't go to try to see them this year.

Here are the gates to go to the inner gardens.  We walked through the Imperial Palace East Gardens which are open to the public on most days of the year.

A guard in front of the gate entrance; kind of reminds you of Buckingham palace or something, don't you think?

We had to get a photo of a Tokyo crow. There are very many of them in some of the parks and places and even sometimes by our apartment, and they are very noisy!

None of the buildings that surrounded the castle area remain today but the moats, walls, entrance gates and some of the guardhouses still exist.

Taking a rest; it was a very long walk and very hot and humid.  We met a Church member who is a stake president in New Mexico while we were walking.  One of his friends was red as a beet as he wasn't used to so much sun.  Elder Chandler had his hat and I had my umbrella, so we were fine.  I know now why so many Japanese women use their 'parasols' in the summer, as it is very sunny and very humid and hot.

This huge area kind of reminds me of the Washington DC mall area.

Reading in Wikipedia, it says that the total area of the grounds is 3.41 square kilometers (1.32 sq mile) and the palace grounds has at times been valued by some as more than the value of all the real estate in the state of California.

Walls and guard tower

There are many massive trees in the gardens

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We followed the sign to see the cellar; not much to it but after the walk there, we thought we should take a photo!

The Tokagakudo (Peach Blossom Music Hall).

Maybe we're really in Hawaii and not Japan?

The sign said these were Varicolored Carp; pretty expensive in the U.S., I think.

I always love the lanterns that they place near the water.

A beautiful waterfall

To end the blog for today, here is one of our neighbor's own "palace gardens".  He doesn't have a yard but he compensates with his beautiful plants around his apartment.  Most people have one or two plants but his is the best with the most.  He is out at 6 am in every morning working away in his garden.  It is so beautiful, isn't it?  After all, "mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble there's no place like home! I'm so grateful that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that he gave us this beautiful world to live in wherever we may live.  Have a great week everybody!