Obon or the Bon festival

Tokyo 2020 has been no like other Olympic games in history and concluded on Sunday, August 8 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics will take place from August 24.
We assume that many of you have enjoyed watching the games on TV at home.
Before the Paralympics will start, there is 'Obon' or a Buddhist event occurring from 13th to 15th of August, where the age-old custom of ancestral worship became tied up with the ghost festival of Buddhism.
Originally, the period of Obon was from July 13th to July 15th of the old calendar. Today, many regions nationwide celebrate Obon a month late in mid-August.
Because the spirits of the dead are said to return at the Obon time, fires are lit at the entrances to homes so the spirits do not lose their way.
On a bon-tana, a small altar or shelf to welcome ancestors' spirits, people offer a horse-like figure made from cucumber and a cow-like figure made from eggplant as transportation for the spirits. The horse is for their ancestors to come quickly and the cow is for them to go back slowly.
Japanese hold memorial services for ancestors every summer as this way. Obon is one of the most important seasonal and family-gathering events for them.
We hope that the situation caused by the pandemic will be settled down and people will be able to go back to their home towns to see their relatives soon.