日本的夏季为何成为恐怖季？
High temperatures during the Tokyo Olympics have been making headlines around the world.
东京奥运会期间的超高气温登上了世界各地的新闻头条。
In fact, the event may go down as one of the hottest and most humid in the history of the Games.
事实上，这届奥运会可能会成为奥运史上最热最潮湿的一届。
Last week, current world No. 2 tennis player Daniil Medvedev said the heat and humidity were "some of the worst" conditions he had played in, even asking who would be responsible if he died.
上周，目前世界排名第二的网球运动员丹尼尔·梅德韦杰夫表示，这里的高温和潮湿是他所经历过的“最糟糕的”环境，他甚至问道，如果他热死了，谁会为此负责。
But the temperatures and high humidity currently cooking the capital are not unusual.
不过这种全城陷入的高温高热并不是什么反常的现象。
Japanese summers are notoriously sticky and sweaty, and for many Japanese people, spooky.
日本的夏天是出了名的闷热难当，对很多日本人来说更是阴森可怕的。
Friends flock to haunted houses, head to the movies for horror flicks or visit graveyards after dark, all in an attempt to scare themselves into literally getting the chills -- in effect forgetting all about the sweltering heat.
天黑后，朋友们成群结队地去鬼屋，去看恐怖电影，或者参观墓地，所有这些都是为了让自己吓得浑身发冷——这样就可以忘记所有的闷热。
As the temperatures soar in Japan it's believed that the boundaries between the world of the living and the dead are at their thinnest and yurei (spirits) are able to cross over.
随着日本气温的飙升，人们相信，生者和死者之间的世界的界限就处在最薄的时候，“灵魂”就能够跨越。
Summer is marked by the festival of O-bon, which usually takes place in mid-August.
夏天的一个重要节日就是中元节，一般会在八月中举行。
"O-bon is the Buddhist festival of the dead, in which the spirits of deceased family members and ancestors are honored," explains Yoshiko Okuyama, a professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Hawai'i, Hilo.
“中元节是佛教的亡灵节，在这个节日里，已故的家庭成员和祖先的灵魂可以得到供奉，”夏威夷大学的日本研究教授奥山良子解释说。
According to Okuyama, the festival is based on a Buddhist tale in which one of the Buddha's disciples, Mokuren, learns that his deceased mother has ended up in hell.
据奥山良子说，这个节日是根据一个佛教故事改编的，在这个故事中，佛陀的一个弟子木莲得知他已故的母亲在地狱里魂魄快要消散了。
He then performs a ceremony to save her soul.
于是他就举行了仪式来拯救她的亡灵。
"This Buddhist myth eventually developed into the tradition of urabone (O-bon) as a time to hold a memorial service for the spirits of deceased family members," she says.
她说:“这个佛教神话最终发展成为中元节的传统，在这个时候为已故家庭成员的灵魂举行追思仪式。”
"It is said that the spirits return from the anoyo (the spiritual world) to the konoyo (the world of the living) in order to attend the festival with the living."
“据说，灵魂会从神的世界返回到活人的世界，以便和活人一起参加这个节日。”
During O-bon, families reunite to pay respects at ancestral graves, light bonfires, clean the graves, dance the bon-odori, eat and drink.
在中元节期间，家人会团聚在一起祭拜祖先的坟墓，点燃篝火，清理坟墓，跳中元舞，然后聚餐喝酒。
It's believed that if a spirit is cared for by the family, then they are able to pass peacefully into the next world; in return the dead provide protection for their living relatives.
人们相信，如果一个灵魂得到家人的照顾，那么他们就能够平静地进入另一个世界;作为回报，死者也会为他们活着的亲属提供保护。
But, if the deceased are not cared for, or they died in a violent manner, the spirit may come back bearing grudges.
但是，如果死者没有得到照顾，或者他们以暴力的方式死去，灵魂可能会带着怨恨回来。
"Even the spirits of people who died yet cannot rest in peace are thought to visit us!" Okuyama says.
“甚至那些死去但仍无法安息的人们的灵魂也会来拜访我们!”奥山良子说道。
"Naturally, there is no better time than summer to talk about supernatural phenomena."
“所以自然，夏天就成了谈论超自然现象的最佳时机。”
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