Big Buddha

A lit Lattern at Big  Buddha

It was Obon week last week, which is a week that the Japanese celebrate their deceased relatives. They all take the day off work to meet up with family, some travel very far to do so, they have meals together and visit and decorate the graves. One teacher described it as Japanese thanks-giving but I'm not really sure that's the best example! He was trying to emphasis how big and important it was I think.

alot of the temples around this time are lit by candles at night which creates beautiful settings in the woods.

Aomori has the biggest outdoor Buddha in Japan, so one evening during Obon week we went to explore it.

It was HUGE and nesttled into the mountain side. The whole area was lit with latterns, all along a pathway leading from the temple to the Buddha. To remember the deceased children the Japanese stick pin wheels around the area, so hundreds and hundreds of pin wheels whistle in the wind. Was actually very eery but a very captivating experince.

Pin wheels for the children