お盆 Obon 2026

All of you

If you miss me

After I am gone,

Rely on Amida’s Vow

As keepsake

I leave the Name

Namo Amida Butsu.

Let it be the Way

To see me after I am gone.[1]

I recall a minister (probably Rev. Mas Kodani) describe Obon as mother’s day and father’s day all rolled into one day.  I believe that he was saying that at Obon time we remember our parents and grandparents. We honor them and thank them all at once at Obon.  For us as Buddhists Obon is a time to return home physically and spiritually.

It has been a tradition in Japan for family members to return home at Obon.  Family members will take three days to travel home and visit the gravesite of their parents and ancestors.  They take time to wash and clean the grave site and then offer flowers and burn incense.  Jodoshinshu ministers throughout Japan take the three days to visit each home of their members and perform omairi or a memorial service. 

In some cases, the families are not home while the priest does omairi and in other cases they are home, but don’t join the priest.  It is as if the ritual is more important than the content.  And for some it is a necessary yearly ritual with little or no meaning. 

While performing this task in 1980 in Kyushu Japan I entered what seemed to be my 100^th home on the third day of omairi.  I was dead tired and was looking forward to the end of the day and a hot furo (bath) and a meal upon my return.   As I entered the home, three family members, a father, mother and daughter bowed deeply and thanked me for coming.  I sat in front of the butsudan (family shrine) and chanted the Sanbujo and Sanbutsuge as I had done a hundred times before in the past three days.  However, this time it was different.

I could hear a quiet sobbing as I chanted the sutras and I noticed the photograph of a young girl in the butsudan.    When I finished I asked the family if I could continue with the chanting of the kisanboge (Return Three Treasures Gatha) in memory of their daughter.  Upon completion of the chanting I read the passage of Rennyo Shonin found in the opening of my article.  I felt helpless with my inadequate Japanese, so I only read the quote above. 

Most of the three days of Obon mairi I would hurry from one home to the next with no time to visit or meet families.  I honestly don’t recall how much time I spent with this family, but I drank tea with them and heard the tragic story of the young twin sister dying in a traffic accident.  I could only listen and offer my condolences.  That brief encounter and experience has stayed with me over the years.

Each Obon season I remember that moment with the family.  Each Obon at our temples we honor the members who have died over the past year.  As much as we honor them, we should also remember that Obon is for all of us.  All of us have experienced loss, therefore Obon is a time for all of us to remember our loved ones.  And as we do, we recall the words of Rennyo.  As we miss our family members we must rely on Amida’s Vow.  Namoamidabutsu is the way to see our family members again.

Gassho,

Rev. Hosei Shinseki

[1] Rennyo Shonin, His Life Through Pictorial Illustrations.  Yamaguchi Kyoku, Kikan Undo Propagation Committee, 1997, Pg.  120-121