Trinity will be closed for summer holiday from August 8th to 16th.

This time of the year in Japan is called "O-bon".

O-bon is a religious event dedicated to the deceased, which is held around July 15 of the lunar calendar. Since the solar calendar was adopted, it has been held around August 15. It is said that old Japanese folk rituals and Buddhist events were mixed together and formed the present form of O-bon.

During O-bon, the spirits of the deceased are said to return to their families. People light lanterns in order to lead the deceased to their families and perform Bon dances in order to entertain them.

When O-bon is over, the spirits are sent on their way. This is called the escorting of the spirits and fires to speed their seeing off are lit at entrances of homes and offerings are floated on rivers and the ocean.

Although this is one of the beautiful Japanese traditional events, these days, we rarely see families actually light lanterns to welcome the spirits....

We will be back again on August 17th!