Please help me to read this English sentence:

[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Koir, thanks for the great revision and great advice as always.

I have one question.
Does “a day trip” mean single-day?
Many people go abroad for five or nine days. What can I say in that case?
Do I need to write their trips last up to nine days?
How about this? : “Almost 50,000 people departed from Narita Airport today, and they stay abroad about a week.”
Thanks.

A day trip usually means a single day. If people are staying away for more than one day, it's a vacation as you stated.

Your revision is accurate.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Koir

A day trip usually means a single day. If people are staying away for more than one day, it's a vacation as you stated.

Your revision is accurate.

Koir, thanks as always.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi, Nathan. Thank you very much.
“Across Japan” sounds very useful.
However, my dictionary says, “When something happens across a place or organization, it happens equally everywhere within it.” Some areas in Japan don’t have bon around August 15. That depends on the area. Don’t I have to be concerned about “equally everywhere”?

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

When we make a horse and a cow before we visit the graves, can I say “after that”?
Should I say “other customs”?

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.

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.

That aside, any further customs to celebrate the Bon festival depends on the area.

However, there are many people who don’t .....

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...

[YuriTokoro]

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

Hi, Nathan.

“In various locations” seems to be very good to know. I’ll keep it in my mind.

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.

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?

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...

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!

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

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?

Well, the simplest method would be something like this:

The main custom of Bon is visiting the graves of our ancestors. That aside, any further customs depends on the area. One common tradition is bringing 'shouryouuma' with us to the grave site. These are a horse ..... People who partake in this custom usually leave the shouryouuma by the grave for the duration of Bon*.

In other areas, .....

The sentence I put the (*) next too is fine as it is, but you could add:
.... duration of Bon and retrieve it when the festival is over.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Well, the simplest method would be something like this:

The main custom of Bon is visiting the graves of our ancestors. That aside, any further customs depends on the area. One common tradition is bringing 'shouryouuma' with us to the grave site. These are a horse ..... People who partake in this custom usually leave the shouryouuma by the grave for the duration of Bon*.

In other areas, .....

The sentence I put the (*) next too is fine as it is, but you could add:
.... duration of Bon and retrieve it when the festival is over.

Thank you, Nathan.
Actually, we don't bring shouryouuma to the grave site. We believe the spirits come to our house, so we have shouryouuma in our house.

[YuriTokoro]

Hi.
I’d like to know whether reincarnation is believed in in your country.
I need to know that, before I write something about Japanese Buddhism.
Japanese people sometimes say “When I get reincarnated, I will ….”
Some Japanese lyrics say “When we get reincarnated, we will love each other again”, “Even if you get reincarnated, you would never love me” or something.
Many Japanese people seem to believe in it.
How about in your country? If you get reincarnated, is it good or bad?

Thank you.

[xinyuai]

HELLO,YURI,
i'm xinyuai,from China,
and i 'm very interested in Japan,for everything , like culture, language,and so on..
and i'd like to make a Janpanese friend,as you,
would you like to make a friend with me ?
xinyuai

[hinata2]

hello yuri
some people believe in being reincarnnated and some dont

[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi.
I’d like to know whether reincarnation is believed in in your country.
I need to know that, before I write something about Japanese Buddhism.
Japanese people sometimes say “When I get reincarnated, I will ….”
Some Japanese lyrics say “When we get reincarnated, we will love each other again”, “Even if you get reincarnated, you would never love me” or something.
Many Japanese people seem to believe in it.
How about in your country? If you get reincarnated, is it good or bad?

Thank you.

I would have to say I personally don't believe in it...but I don't rule it out either. Unexplainable things have happened, even in my own life. Being raised with Christian beliefs from childhood doesn't leave much room for beliefs that souls come back into this life from previous ones.

Most importantlly, I do not have an issue with other individuals from different backgrounds holding to their beliefs which have been known since childhood. Wandering the internet as I have done for many years has expanded my horizons.