A visit from my dad?

Lighting the way back home.

Obon is a late-summer string of days and nights in Japan in which the spirits of dead relatives come back to visit with the living. It’s a positive family experience, maybe something like the Festivals of the Dead in Latin American cultures.

In 30 years in this country, I’ve never thought much about Obon. It’s a quiet, private holiday, so in a big city particularly you may not be aware what is happening in tiny towns, temples, and shrines all over the nation on those days.

In this farmland however you can’t miss the preparations and energy.

Family members who have long ago left these rural parts for lives in the city travel back to tiny hometowns like this to reconnect with surviving elderly relatives, tidy up ancestor graves, and prepare their homes and the town for the spirits’ returns. Monks even walk the village to make visits and to offer well wishes.

Yesterday was the specifc day of spirits’ arrivals. I didn’t know there was one set calendar date.

I had a nap yesterday afternoon and in that hour saw a vivid, memorable dream of my father who passed away a few years ago. We were happy and we spoke a lot. When I woke, I walked out into the living room and Toru’s (visiting) sister told me she had just lit incense in front of the house for our two dogs that have passed away. “This is the day spirits return,” she said smiling. “Kaneko-kun and Hana can find their way now.”

Imagine the eeriness. While still utterly unaware this was the day spirits come knocking, I saw my father in the clearest dream I’ve had of him since his passing.

Was he visiting me?

I took Tera for an evening walk through our valley. Incense sticks were burning in front of most every home, and the normally empty graveyard tucked up into our hills had a few cars parked on its entry road. I could hear talking and a few laughs as family members teamed up to scrub headstones, reminisce, and tidy around their clans’ graves.

It was a beautiful day that I’m not likely to forget for some time.