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Honoring the Ancestors

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Non-Japanese Participants in the Obon Dances

For the first time since before the Covid-19 closures, Martine and I attended the West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple’s Obon celebration yesterday. In Southern California, the various Buddhist temples take turns in offering an Obon celebration. Many of the participants that we saw included families from the Venice, Nishin (downtown L.A.), Gardena, Orange County, San Fernando Valley and various other hongwanjis that spend weekends traveling from one celebration to the next—as the celebrations are designed not to interfere with one another.

Again, the Men’s Club at WLA provided their superior udon noodle soup, which I enjoyed with some Japanese chili powder (togarashi) for extra flavor. Missing was the sushi booth, which I patronized in previous years.

In many of the posts I have written about ethnic festivals, I have rued the steady decline as various ethnicities become more attenuated to the hamburger and french fry mainstream of American culture. This does not seem to be the problem with the Obon festival we attended. Many of the participants dancing and wearing kimonos and happi coats represented either mixed families or all white families.

Apparently, the WLA Buddhist temple is very attractive to refugees from some of the nastier Christian denominations. According to their website:

We are a Jodo Shinshu Pure Land Buddhist temple located in the heart of Sawtelle Japantown in the West Los Angeles area of Southern California. We are an inclusive community welcoming of all people, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.

That inclusive attitude seems to have borne fruit. I’m happy, at any rate, at least as long as the Men’s Club continues cooking up their udon soup.

Thanking the Dead

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Bon Dancers in West L.A.

Bon Dancers in West L.A.

This is not something that Christians are likely to do, but it has ben an integral part of Japanese Mahayana Buddhist practice since the Seventh Century. It is a belief that the disembodied spirits of the dead return to Earth to visit around July and August. According to the Rev. Patti Usuki of the West L.A. Hongwanji:

Obon season is a time to express our gratitude to loved ones who have passed on before us. Without them, we would not be who we are today, due to the basic tenet of interdependence. We would not be where we are and we would not be able to do the things we do to enjoy life. Just think about the number of people involved in creating each of us. If we go back just thirty generations, we can calculate that there were over two billion parents, starting with our two parents, their four parents, and so on—and that’s just the physical part.

So on different weekends during July and August, the many members of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism travel to the different Hongwanjis in Southern California and do the traditional bon dances. Represented yesterday at the West L.A. Buddhist Temple were parishioners from  Venice, Sun Valley, San Fernando Valley, Senshin (Downtown L.A.), Pasadena, and even from as far away as Ventura, Orange, and Santa Barbara counties.

The Men’s Club Prize Pork Udon Soup

The Men’s Club Prize Pork Udon Soup

Of course, dancing is not the only draw. My favorite food on offer there is the Men’s Club’s Pork Udon Soup, seasoned with spicy Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese chili powder). Another favorite is the blueberry imagawayaki, which is like a hand-held blueberry pancake with extra blueberries. Martine, as usual, went for the teriyaki chicken.

The combination of good food, colorful kimonos, and enthusiastic dancers on a pleasant summer evening made for a good time.