Spirit Sending Ceremony

About this event

The Spirit Sending Ceremony at Tofuku-ji marks the end of the Obon period, in which the spirits of ancestors who have visited during the festival are ceremonially guided back to the other world. Monks perform sutras and rituals in the atmospheric evening temple grounds as the season of remembrance draws to a close. It is a bittersweet and deeply Buddhist farewell that brings the whole community together in shared gratitude and love for those who have passed.