Unlike in the western world, ghosts and goblins are said
to come back to the world of the living in summer during what
the Japanese call “Obon,” a Buddhist tradition institutionalized
to become one of Japan’s most colorful festivals.
In some areas, “Obon” comes a month earlier, but
in Tokyo, generally it is observed in the middle of August,
and everybody gets busy visiting graves of their loved ones
to call them back to the world of the living after a year
long hibernation in the cold and weary world of Hades.
Sounds spooky? On the contrary, “Obon” is far
from the eerie atmosphere of the tales of Count Dracula or
the ghost stories they air on television at this time of the
year. In the rural areas we see homes with those fires called
“mukaebi” at their doors to welcome the dead, or
the beautiful chochin (lanterns) with family crest to guide
the spirits to their ancestral homes. At the end of Obon,
families gather at some pond to light some candle set on some
floating lantern called “okuribi” or hang them on
their doorstep to send off the dead.
Obon is supposed to be a Buddhist tradition, and though
most Japanese would profess not to believe in any God, most
families in Japan own a butsudan (Buddhist altar), where they
put the pictures of their dead and honor them as household
gods or guardians and light incense and candle each day especially
when wives miss the companionship of their husbands or vice-versa,
or offer a variety of fruits and vegetables on special occasions
and during the Obon.
As nobody has died in my immediate family, which means my
husband and son, we do not have a butsudan in our house, but
my mother-in-law taught me to arrange fruits and vegetables
on special ceramic tray sold only during Obon, and place it
in front of our house with a chochin hanging at our door.
My mother-in-law has long joined the world of the dead, and
now I do what she taught me to do for the dead for her and
my father-in-law, who were both very kind to me.
Hearn with wife and
kid
One of the things I love about this Obon are the ghosts stories
made famous by Lafcadio Hearn, who like yours truly opted
to become a Japanese citizen. In my case, I have a blood attachment
to Japan, while Lafcadio Hearn, who adopted the name “Koizumi
Yakumo” (no relation to the present Prime Minister of
Japan), did not have any except that he, too, married a Japanese,
and we share the same love and admiration for Japan and things
Japanese.
The Japanese actually owe it to him that we still hear many
of these folklores that cause goose bumps and sleepless nights.
They have become the basis of a lot many Japanese movies featuring
stories dominated by avenging spirits, mostly women, whom
Hearn must have sympathized with for what Westerners took
as their lowly status in the social hierarchy, although my
own experience and observation prove otherwise that I hope
to write about in another column.
Apparently, as in many cultures, the Japanese believe in
troubled spirits coming back to seek for revenge for their
untimely death and cause fear in the hearts of those who did
them wrong. In most cases, Japanese ghosts are represented
by cloudy figures floating in the air with some white triangle
cloth, which resembles the Philippine “bigkis” use
to cover the navel of infants, on their forehead symbolizing
path to heaven although even in the Buddhist belief, the good
spirits go straight to paradise or “gokuraku” and
the bad go to hell or wander off in this weary world of ours.
Other than ghosts, the Japanese also believe in witches
and faith healers like the “albularyos” in the Philippines.
They also believe in those who cast spells or curse like the
“mangkukulam.” In Japan, they are called “Jui”
or witch doctor. Here, to cast a spell with the use of a straw
doll is prohibited by law even when law enforcers are not
unlikely to believe and give credence to superstition and
supernatural powers. There is such law nonetheless to prevent
those who want to intimidate or cause others mental torture
and fear by declaration of possessing some magical or mystical
powers.
On the other hand, goblins like the Tengu are more or less
foreign influence. I have noticed as well that the Japanese
tell of goblins more as a means to teach and discipline those
who are likely to be social menaces. In modern times, they
have become good materials for some Japanese video games.
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