Obon is a ceremony held in late summer when the Japanese offer thanks and respect to their dead ancestors (click here for details). People in Japan believe that their ancestors’ souls can travel back to our world at this time. Some households shape small cows or horses called shōryō-uma or “spirit horses” out of vegetables and place these in the family altar so that their returning ancestors may travel more comfortably. Unlike Halloween in the West, the returning souls are not considered frightening, but are warmly welcomed.
