A couple of weeks ago, from the 13th to the 15th of August, Obon お盆 was celebrated around Japan. Matsuris took place all around the country to honor the spirits of the people’s ancestors.
One of the traditions during Obon consists on introducing wood sticks into eggplants and cucumbers like shown on the pictures below. Cucumbers represent horses and eggplants represent cows. Legend has it that the spirits of one’s ancestors travel to our world riding on cows and horses. In the following pictures that I took in a coffee shop in Kichijoji there’s no incense, but usually there should be. The smoke of the incense marks the way from our world to the spirits world so they don’t get lost when coming and going back.
