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Originally Posted by Nathan
A useful word to put in this sentence then would be 'sporadically'.
This word is kind of the opposite of 'equally'. If I change the sentence to:
It is held sporadically across Japan on August 15
Now we are stating that it is held in almost random cities. But you could also use the word 'various.'
It is held on August 15 in various locations in Japan
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Hi, Nathan.
“In various locations” seems to be very good to know. I’ll keep it in my mind.
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Yes, my version does sound like you visit the graves first, and then make the 'shouryouuma'. So a better word than 'after' would be 'aside' or 'besides'
...but asides that it depends on the area.
...but that aside it depends on the area.
...but besides that it depends on the area.
If you want to say visiting the graves and creating 'shouryouuma' are the two most common customs you could put both those ideas into one sentence.
[i]The two main customs of Bon are visiting our ancestor's graves and the creation of 'shouryouuma'. The “shouryouuma” are a horse and a cow made with a cucumber and an eggplant to welcome the ancestors. 'Shouryou' means spirit, and 'uma' means horse. They are the spirits’ conveyances between the afterworld and this world. The cucumber, representing the horse, is used by the spirits to arrive quickly. The eggplant, representing the cow, slows the spirits' return to the afterworld. This lets the spirits maximize their time with us.
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Visiting the graves is the main custom of Bon. Making Shouryouum depends on the area.
People who have custom of making Shouryouuma generally make Shouryouuma first, after that, they visit the grave. The spirits’ of our ancestors come back to our house on August 12, when they need Shouryouuma. Most people go to the graves to clean them later, maybe on 15 or 16.
What should I write?
Quote:
Since the main focus of this paragraph is the 'shouryouuma', I did not mention the other customs until it later. If you wanted to give examples of some area-specific customs, you could mention them in the second paragraph.
That aside, any further customs to celebrate the Bon festival depends on the area. In Tokyo, ....... In the Kansai region ..... but in Sapporo...
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I should have studied about other customs before I started writing the post.
Yes, you are right. Some other examples would be good to introduce Japanese customs.
I will study more next time.
Thank you very much!