Yesterday I noticed two paper lanterns next door. Giant lanterns leading down the path to the home on our right. Have these always been here and am I just noticing them? Couldn't be – they are too massive, to magnificent, too reminiscent of old world Japan.
My first thought was, “They're building a restaurant next door!”. But that's not the case. These lanterns have a special significance. They are symbolic of the funerary proceedings in the house on our right.
It is very common to see these lanterns around neighborhoods this time of year. As one of my students put it, this is a common time for death. The changing seasons must be too much for these ancient bodies to handle.
Funeral ceremonies in Japan are a very sacred time, and the families stay in mourning until the New Year. This is a time to release the spirit of their deceased to the ancestor world. Once dead, their ancestors become spirits and gods. They will never be forgotten and will be prayed to and cared for after death.
Two major chopsticks faux-pas come from this ceremony. During the funeral, the bones of the deceased are passed through a line of chopsticks-wielding family members and bowls of rice with chopsticks vertically stuck in the middle are placed at an alter to the deceased. It's considered unforgivable to pass food from one set of chopsticks to the other, and also to stick your chopsticks vertical into the center of your rice.
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