Saturday, August 3, 2013

Obon Festival

Oakland's Buddhist Church held their Obon Festival (honoring our ancestors) this weekend. We often read Josie a book called Dance, Dance, Amy Chan about a girl who spends time with her Japanese grandparents, practices the Bon Odori dances and gets to dance at the festival, so we thought it would be fun for Josie to see it live. It was a great community event, with octogenarians and babies, Japanese and hakujin (white people), bbq bentos and udon, and a real spectrum of dancers out on the street- some in elaborate kimono dress and others with jeans and a t-shirt. 
Josie didn't want to miss the dancing and wanted to get a prime viewing spot in front of the church/temple.

A tag with the name of an ancestor hangs from each lantern.


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