Bon Odori in Mabori

During our third July in Japan, we finally experienced our neighborhood summer festival a few weekends ago. It's called Bon Odori. There are Japanese food concession stands, but the main event is a covered stage in which taiko drums (large Japanese drums) are played while performers dance in a circle around the drummers.

This apparently, according to Wiki, "originates from the story of Mokuren, a disciple of the Buddha, who used his supernatural powers to see his deceased mother. He discovered she had fallen into the "Realm of Hungry Ghosts" and was suffering. Greatly disturbed, he asked Buddha how he could release his mother from this realm. Buddha instructed him to make offerings to the many Buddhist monks who had just completed their summer retreat, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. The disciple did this and, thus, saw his mother's release. He also began to see the true nature of her past unselfishness and the many sacrifices that she had made for him. The disciple, happy because of his mother's release and grateful for his mother's kindness, danced with joy. From this dance of joy comes Bon Odori or "Bon Dance", a time in which ancestors and their sacrifices are remembered and appreciated."

If all goes as planned, I can imagine Sydney, already my sweet little dancer, doing a dance in remembrance of me when I'm gone. Either that, or in celebration of my passing. After only 2.8 years, I realize it could still go either way...