Such misery is common during the Buddhist festival of Obon, but it is worse this year.

在佛教传统节日盂兰盆期间这种令人痛苦的事情是正常的，但是今年的情况更糟糕。

The 3rd Sunday of the month, Year's End and New Year holiday period, and Obon period.

每月第3个星期日、年末年初及盂兰盆节休假。

Notice the kanji character for "big" on the hillside in the above photo. Reckon they would light it up during Obon or some other festival.

看到上图山的一边刻了很大的“大”这个汉字吗？我们猜想在盂兰盆会或其他的日本传统节日中，可能会起火点燃这个部分吧？

We were warned that it might not be the spiritual journey it once was and that we would be sharing it with many others – particularly during the Obon holiday period.

我们被告知，登山也许不像曾经的那样是一次精神旅程了，还有许多其他人会和我们一起登山，特别是在盂兰盆节期间。