[00:11.01]What happens to the lanterns at the end of the festival? [00:17.38]A Festival for the Dead is held once a year in Japan. [00:22.72]This festival is a cheerful occasion, [00:26.05]for on this day, the dead are said to return to their homes and they are welcomed by the living. [00:34.36]As they are expected to be hungry after their long journey, food is laid out for them. [00:41.81]Specially-made lanterns are hung outside each house to help the dead to find their way. [00:49.85]All night long, people dance and sing. [00:54.07]In the early morning the food that had been laid out for the dead [00:59.49]is thrown into a river or into the sea as it is considered unlucky for anyone living to eat it. [01:09.25]In towns that are near the sea, the tiny lanterns which had been hung in the streets the night before, [01:17.84]are placed into the water when the festival is over. [01:22.15]Thousands of lanterns slowly drift out to sea guiding the dead on their return journey to the other world. [01:31.58]This is a moving spectacle, for crowds of people [01:36.07]stand on the shore watching the lanterns drifting away until they can be seen no more.