HOZO SHRINE URABON MEMORIAL FESTIVAL
The 54th 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 the Suekazu Inari Shrine Festival were held. Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi served as the Chief Priest for the first time after succeeding the Presidency of Seicho-No-Ie. Mrs. Junko Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie White Dove Association, was also present at these ceremonies. A total of 5,439 people attended the three-day Festival, which had the blessing of fine weather.
The Main Festival was held at the worship hall from 9:00 a.m. on August 19 and lasted for one hour and forty minutes. At 9:00 a.m. Rev. and Mrs. Masanobu Taniguchi entered the worship hall. After the purification rite, opening of the shrine doors, Invocation and offerings, Rev. Taniguchi read the supplication.
Rev. Taniguchi then offered a sacred branch and worshiped the Deities enshrined in Hozo Shrine, the Spirit-World Holy Missioners (Holy Mission Fellowship Members in the spirit world and souls being perpetually memorialized), and the newly memorialized souls this year.
Rev. Kamino Kusumoto, Head 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. Kusumoto and Rev. Kazuo Isobe, Chairman and CEO of Religious Juridical Person, “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 27 souls to the Humanity Enlightenment Movement, including the late Mrs. Fumiko Hanzawa, who served in such positions as Vice Chief of the White Dove Association and Chief of Mie 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, the Affirmation of Perfect Peace and Harmony, and the closing of the doors. The Main Festival ended at 10:38 a.m.
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. 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 the spirits. While the attendees read the Holy Sutra, Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines, 1,293 volunteers from Missionary Areas across Japan read the names from 2,426,804 soul registers (down by 163,623 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 17 groups participated.