HOZO SHRINE URABON MEMORIAL FESTIVAL
Memorialization of 2.69 Million Souls
The 52nd Hozo Shrine Urabon Memorial Festival was solemnly held from August 17 to 19 at the Seicho-No-Ie Uji Temple in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture.
On August 19, the Hozo Shrine Main Festival, the Seirei Shokon Shrine Festival, the Memorial Tower for Neglected Souls of Aborted Children Throughout Japan Festival and Suekazu Inari Shrine Festival were held. Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, Vice President of Seicho-No-Ie, served as the Chief Priest. Mrs. Junko Taniguchi was also present at these ceremonies.
Six thousand three hundred and twenty people attended the three-day Festival.
At the Main Festival on August 19, Rev. and Mrs. Masanobu Taniguchi entered the worship hall at 9:00 a.m. After the purification rite, opening of the shrine doors, Invocation and offerings, Rev. Taniguchi read the supplication. He then offered a sacred branch and worshiped the Deities and Buddhas enshrined in Hozo Shrine, the Spirit World Holy Missioners (members of the Spirit World Holy Mission Fellowship and souls being perpetually memorialized), and the newly memorialized souls.
Rev. Kamino Kusumoto, Chief Priest of Uji Temple, recited the prayer for the Main Festival. It was followed by Mrs. Junko Taniguchi’s offering of a sacred branch and worship
Rev. Kasumi Kusumoto and Rev. Kazuo Isobe, Chairman and CEO of Seicho-No-Ie, also offered sacred branches and worshiped.
Next, Rev. Toshio Seno, a director of Uji Temple, read the ceremonial statement and eulogized the contribution of 37 souls to the Humanity Enlightenment Movement, including the late Rev. Masatomo Beppu, who served in such offices as Chief of Kagoshima Missionary Area. During the reading of the Holy Sutra, Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines, the attendees proceeded to the front of the worship hall and made offerings of incense.
This was followed by the offering of the sacred dance, “Urayasu no Mai,” the removal of the offerings and the Affirmation of Perfect Peace and Harmony. The Main Festival ended at 10:41 a.m.
After the Main Festival, the Seirei Shokan Shrine Festival, Memorial Tower for Neglected Souls of Aborted Children Throughout Japan Festival and the Suekazu Inari Shrine Festival were held.
On August 17, the spirit extraction ceremony of the Sending Off Festival was held to extract the souls from the spirit registers that had been memorialized over the past year at Hozo Shrine, and on August 18 the purifying flame ceremony of the same Festival was held for the old spirit registers. There was also a ceremony to call out spirits. One thousand two hundred and sixty-six volunteers from across Japan read the names from 2,693,421 soul registers (down by 100,627 from last year), which were subsequently placed in the Hozo Shrine for memorialization for one year by the reading of the Holy Sutra, Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines.
Also on the evening of the same day, a Bon Dance was held near the Shrine, where 16 groups participated.