August 12th – August 16th, 2024 is Autumn – RISSHU (Beginning of autumn)-38th KOU “Evening cicadas sing.”
Hearing the chirps of evening cicadas makes me feel that summer is over and autumn is just around the corner especially when I hear them in the evening as their name suggests.
The KANJI name of evening cicadas involves not only evening, but also sunset or cool.Their transparent cries, which disappear as they are sucked into the sky, suit the quiet and pure atmosphere of shrines and temples.
It is now OBON season, and Japanese remember people in their family who have died.
On the evening of OBON, we light a MUKAEBI (welcoming fire) to welcome our ancestors. We decorate the Buddhist altar with a sacred horse and a sacred cow. Please come back from the heaven to your family as quickly as possible on the horse. And after spending together with the family, please slowly back on ride of the cow.
