2011年8月19日金曜日

events in summer


Obon vacation , in the middle of August to graciously receive any returned souls according to Buddhism, was over.

I enjoyed to have time together with my family and do some events for the season, visiting our family grave yard for example.

And also I'm relieved now that my usual daily life came back for me.




This post is about a part of my passing of time during the vacation.






Just shortly before Obon, it was held that many tiny candles were lit on the field of Nara Park. It creates a feeling of welcoming returned souls with lightning about 20,000 candles totally, on some fields, along the road and in front of a temple, and so on. This event has been held from 1999.


In addition to the commemorating for ancestors and the war dead, that for the victims by the earthquake and tsunami on 3.11 was accounted this year.

百の燭(しょく)を覗きつつゆく 古都の野にうごめく影の一つとなりて

As a shadow

moving on,

I look into a protection

for each of tiny hundreds of candles

on a field of an ancient capital haricot


For my family's ancestors we visited our family grave yard.
My family is not Buddhists but Shintoists ( Shinto is Japanese indigenous religion), though in the grave yard there are tombs for both.( The shape of tomb stone is different: that of Buddhism is rectangular , that of Shinto is pointed at the top, and Buddhists offer flowers besides Shintoists offer green leaves called sakaki.)

And later I called in a Temple, Byakugo-ji(白毫寺), because I like the location of the small temple,although most of Shintoists visit shrines not temples in general.


 
 
I like the serene atmosphere of this mountain temple as well.




In autumn it is famous for the flowers named Hagi in Japanese which can be seen the both sides of staircases on the fifth photo.


They were still young, but among them there were some precocious ones which had already some flowers like this.


Maple leaves are also still green hones.



But some are precocious, I found.




In spring this temple is famous for camellias. Some camellia trees bear some solid fruits now.



From this small temple ground, we can view Nara basin widely.


This prospect is one of the big reasons that I 'm fond of this temple.





The mail hall next to the pagoda is under construction
Compared to spring the outlook is clearer due to the air without haze, and it tells us that autumn is just around  the corner.

16 件のコメント:

匿名 さんのコメント...

Very nice piece of writing. I will have to visit Byakugo-ji. Inspiring photos, too.

Celeste さんのコメント...

Salut
J'adore lire ce que vous écrivez sur vos traditions, vous parlez avec beaucoup de coeur.
J'ai aussi appris que les camélias donnaient des fruits.
Profitez bien de ces vacances.
あなたの友情に感謝する

Celeste

sarah さんのコメント...

You also went Tokae? I had a trouble to take photo ,because of too dark and I didn't have a tripod.
Byakugoji-temple has restful atmosphere I think. I've never been there so I will visit there at all cost.

Tomoko さんのコメント...

こんばんわ~~!Haricot.
This is a very solemn and peaceful poem. I like it very much.(・・古都の野にうごめく影の一つとなりて・・)すご~~く雰囲気が感じられますね。

Haricotさん以前にもByakugo-jiの写真をポストされましたが、本当にこのお寺がお好きなのですね。私も小さいお寺が好きなんです。静かで落ち着きますね。my familyは仏教の家ですが、私は神社に行くのも好きです。

秋はもうすぐです。お体大切に!
Tomoko.

stardust さんのコメント...

百毫寺、私も好きですが夏に行ったことはありません。私は夫の方のお墓参りの帰りには、暑くても寒くても近くの好きな公園に立ち寄りますが、それと似ているものがあるかもしれません。私も春の百毫寺の椿に関する投稿を覚えていますよ。

「・・・ 古都の野にうごめく一つの影になりて」  この表現いいですねぇ。

今回の写真では特に5番目(夏の参道もいいですね)、6番目(蓮の葉が効果的)の写真が好きです。

雨のおかげのこの涼しさ、続くといいのですが。お元気で。

cosmos さんのコメント...

燈花会も奈良の夏の風物詩として定着しましたね。今年は新たな慰霊、鎮魂、祈りがこめられていますね。

興福寺の五重塔はやはりlandmarkですね。
百毫寺からの奈良盆地一帯を見渡す眺めはすばらしいです。
私は先日三輪神社にお参りしましたが、「三輪の杜」からの大和三山の眺望もお奨めです。そこからの夕日を眺めてみたいと思っていますが。

Jenny Woolf さんのコメント...

Byakugo-ji is a beautiful temple. Your picture reminds me of one of the almost dreamlike scenes in a Miyazaki movie, when there is a strange mixture of everyday and spiritual. Actually this mixture is a rather unfamiliar thing for Westerners - perhaps it is more typically Japanese?

haricot さんのコメント...

Marc sensei

Thank you for your comment.
Byakugo-ji is recommendable, due to its convenient location and comfortable coziness.

Celeste

Merci beaucoup pour lire ce brog souvant.
Et je vous remerci pour la phrase Japonais. C'est impressionant.

sarah

Thank you for the comment.
Your photos about "Tokae" are magnificent and I never noticed that you had some problem.

haricot さんのコメント...

redrose
春の白毫寺のpostを覚えていて下さったのですね。もう少しすれば萩の見ごろです。
またぶらっと行ってみたくなるかも知れません。
Thank you for your comment.

stardust

いつもよく読んで下さってありがとうございます。そう、お墓参りに行くコースみたいになっています。時間がないときはお墓からお蕎麦屋さんに直行なんですが、、、。
今日は涼しくて助かります。

haricot さんのコメント...

cosmos

三輪山はきっとcosmosさんの立ち位置より低い場所でしょうが、景色が思い出されます。神秘的な山ですね。涼しくなったのでわたしも行ってみたくなりました。
Thank you for the comment.

Jenny

Thank you for the comment.
I'm not conscious but probably Obon term is one of the most spiritual one in Japan.

When I visited Indonesia I noticed that people offer flowers and coins on a small woven banana leaves three times a day.
Japanese people are not so deligent
for spirits in daily life though.

Ekaterina Trayt さんのコメント...

Thank you for this trip, Haricot! I was unfamiliar with Obon festival before. There's so much I still don't know about Japan, but thanks to blogs like yours I can learn more.

I really like the temple. I'm always attracted to such stairs and gates, don't know why.

I can't wait for autumn! I feel this special autumn freshness in the air sometimes, and I'm eager to see autumn foliage once again.

Have a nice day!

-Ekaterina

haricot さんのコメント...

Ekaterina

Thank you for the comment.
I also really like to see autumn foliage and to feel refreshing air in the coming season.
Autumn is creative season somehow.
It's soon. Enjoy the late summer and have a good time.

ruma さんのコメント...

Hello, haricot.

The night view is fantastic.
There is a unique atmosphere.
I want to watch the festival.

Thank you.
ruma

haricot さんのコメント...

ruma

I hope that you'll visit Nara someday.
Thank you for your visit on this blog.

BrandNewStudio
Thank you very much for your revisit.
Have a nice day.

Jenny Woolf さんのコメント...

Thinking about your blog, I realised I have never seen camellia fruits. Perhaps the varieties that bloom over here in the winter don't have fruits .

haricot さんのコメント...

Jenny

Thank you for revisiting.
It's interesting to know some difference on plants between East and West. Thank you for the information.