Uji Hozo Shrine Urabon Memorial Service
Reading of The Sutra, Song in Praise of Nature, Held at the Memorial Service for Victims of Natural Disasters
Souls of 2.14 Million People Memorialized
The 57th Hozo Shrine Urabon Memorial Service was held for three days from August 17 to 19 at the Seicho-No-Ie Uji Temple in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture. During this period, on August 18, the Memorial Service for the Victims of Natural Disasters was held from 4:00 p.m. for an hour and ten minutes to memorialize those killed in natural disasters, including the Great East Japan Earthquake and to pledge the realization of a world where nature and human beings exist in harmony. Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie, served as the Chief Priest. Mrs. Junko Taniguchi, President of White Dove Association, was also present at the service. This was the first time to hold this memorial service.
Before the start of the memorial service the sky became dark and heavy rain and thunder followed. Due to the plan to build a Memorial Tower for the Victims of Natural Disasters at the Uji Temple, the memorial service was originally scheduled to be held in front of the construction site of the Tower. However, because of the heavy rain and thunder, the altar was quickly brought into the worship hall of the Hozo Shrine. The strong rain seemed to be reflecting the grief of the deceased and their families and purifying their sorrow.
At 4:00 p.m. Rev. and Mrs. Masanobu Taniguchi entered the hall. After the purification and Invocation, Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi read the supplication and offered a sacred branch.
This was followed by the spirit calling ceremony by Rev. Kamino Kusumoto, the Head Priest of Uji Temple, and offerings. After Rev. Kusumoto read the Words of the Memorial Service, Mrs. Junko Taniguchi offered a sacred branch.
Then, Rev. Kusumoto; and Rev. Kazuo Isobe, Chairman and CEO of Seicho-No-Ie, offered sacred branches. While the attendees read the Holy Sutra, The Song of the Angel, the attendees burned incense to memorialize the victims of natural disasters, including the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Rev. Toshio Seno, (Seicho-No-Ie Elder and Chief of Osaka Missionary Area) next led the reading of the new sutra, Song in Praise of Nature, by Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, which was published for this Memorial Service. Many attendees had already obtained the copies of the new sutra. They loudly read it in one voice with Rev. Seno, appreciating every word in the sutra. They memorialized the souls of natural disaster victims and also renewed their pledge to realize a world where nature and human beings exist in harmony.
The Memorial Service proceeded to the removal of offerings and spirit extraction ceremony and ended with the Affirmation of Perfect Peace and Harmony.
On the following day (August 19), the last day of the Urabon Memorial Festival, fleecy clouds appeared and then flowed away one after another in the blue sky and strong sunlight shone from between clouds. With Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi serving as the Chief Priest, the Hozo Shrine Main Festival, the Seirei Shokan Shrine Festival, the Memorial Tower for Neglected Souls of Aborted Children Throughout Japan Festival and the Suekazu Inari Shrine Festival were held. Mrs. Junko Taniguchi was also present at these ceremonies.
The Main Festival was held from 9:00 a.m. at the worship hall of the Hozo Shrine for about an hour and forty minutes. At 9:00 a.m. the President and Mrs. Masanobu Taniguchi entered the worship hall. After the purification, 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 the Hozo Shrine, the Spirit-World Holy Missioners (Holy Mission Fellowship members in the spirit world and souls being perpetually memorialized), and this year’s newly memorialized souls. Rev. Kusumoto recited the prayer for the Main Festival. It was followed by Mrs. Junko Taniguchi’s offering of a sacred branch.
Rev. Kusumoto and Rev. Isobe (Chairman and CEO of Seicho-No-Ie) next offered sacred branches. This was followed by eulogy by Rev Kotaro Miura (a director of Uji Temple). He read the ceremonial statement and eulogized the contribution of 38 souls to the Humanity Enlightenment Movement, including the late Rev. Haruo Shibuya, formerly an Elder and Seicho-No-Ie Director, who held such posts as Bishop of Seicho-No-Ie Latin America; and the late Rev. Leslie Iwatani, former Chief of Hawaii Missionary Area. Then 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 a sacred dance, “Urayasu no Mai,” the removal of offerings, the Affirmation of Perfect Peace and Harmony, and closing of the shrine doors before the Main Festival came to an end at 10:39 a.m.
On August 17, the spirit extraction ceremony of the Sending Off Festival was held to extract the souls from the soul registers that had been memorialized over the past year at the Hozo Shrine. On August 18, the purifying flame ceremony of the same Festival was held for the old soul registers. There was also a ceremony to call the spirits.
At the ceremony to call the spirits, while the attendees read the Holy Sutra, Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines, 1,196 volunteers from Missionary Areas across Japan read the names from 2,140,913 soul registers (down by 87,519 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.
On the evening of the same day, an annual Bon Dance was held at the worship hall of the Hozo Shrine, where 15 groups from various parts of the country, including Shiga and Tokushima Prefectures, performed their unique Bon Dances.
A total of 5,734 people attended the three-day Festival. All 1,400 copies of the Song In Praise of Nature were sold.