July 13 marks the beginning of the Japanese Obon Festival, a time when the dead are invited to come back to share time with us.
Writes Waverly Fitzgerald at SchooloftheSeasons.com: “It is also called the Festival of the Lanterns, because the colorful paper lanterns, which decorate the festival ground, light the way for the ancestors to return. On the last day, the souls of the dead return and are given food offerings, accompanied by a silent, gliding circle dance, the bon-odori. Spirits with no relatives are honored with little boats bearing paper lanterns which are set afloat on the Tide of Returning Ghosts to drift out to sea.”