From JAPAN/Blue sea and flowers: Obon Festival

Obon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. The spirits of the ancestors are said to return at this time. In some areas during the Obon festival period, they prepare animal figures made from... a cucumber and an eggplant called Shoryoma, used by the spirits of the deceased to come and go between this world and the other. Though Obon festival regardless of whether it is held according to the lunar or the Gregorian calendar, has never been a public holiday or a national holiday in Japan, many people take holidays around August 15th, even if they are weekdays, and most school children and students are on their summer vacation.

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