What is Obon?  “The Japanese welcome the spirits of their dead ancestors and rekindle their connections” … well that is the first time I have heard that and I have been living here for over 30 years.  I suppose that is the official reason but the reality is it is just a holiday break where everyone goes places and catch Covid.  It lasts about a week and auctions all take a one week break … however some do it in the fist week and some do it in the 2nd.  The results is we have pretty thin auctions through this week (August 8th to August 13th).  More details on this picture here: