Toro Nagashi

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to attend a Toro Nagashi ceremony. Toro Nagashi is a Japanese ceremony in which paper lanterns are floated down a river. It's done as the closing of the Obon festival in Japanese culture as a remembrance of ancestors and loved ones who have passed away. (Think Karate Kid Part II when Mr. Miyagi's father died).

It was really cool. I bought a lantern for my Uncle Michael who died back in February. They called us up one by one, a docent lit my lantern, and I walked to the dock that was built for this event. At the end of the dock was a long pillow for kneeling so we could place the latern in the water. Then another docent with a long stick-thing, launched the lantern away from the dock.

I have pictures and I will post them, but I warn you, they suck. I have a very casual digital camera so it's doesn't have all the cool bells and whistles. My pictures are blurry, because I'm not a photographer. I should add it to my list of things to do.




Vet's Toro Nagashi Flickr photos

Yvette Z.
The Light Collector

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