3月11日の震災から5ヶ月が過ぎ、身内を失った多くの家庭で初盆を迎えられたことでしょう。未だに行方不明の犠牲者も大勢いるそうで、見つけられないまま戸籍上の手続きをすることもあると聞きました。残された人々が悲しみを受け止め、自分で「大丈夫」と思えるまでに必要な時間はそれぞれだから、私はそっと見守り続けたいと思います。
First Obon
Many families may have had their first Obon this summer five months after the catastrophe of March 11th. I heard that many victims are still missing and some bereaved families had started to register official death reports without bodies. I will keep some distance and watch those saddened families because everybody needs their own time to go through their grief and to feel “all right.”
お盆（おぼん）= Obon : Please refer the post of July 29th, 2010
戸籍（こせき）= Koseki: the Family Registration system; it is managed by the Japanese national government, and each and every family in Japan has a Family Register. Citizens report birth of babies, marriages and deaths, too.
