Observed very August (the 12th this year), Obon is a Japanese festival holiday to honor the spirits of ancestors and welcome them back into your home.

During obon, one custom is to craft a "spirit animal" out of cucumbers. Usually, a family will make a shoryouma ("spirit horse") to welcome the departed back in their home at the beginning of obon, as the galloping animal provides speedy passage from the spirit world. When the holiday is finished, a shoryouma ("spirit cow") is made for the spirits to leisurely return back to the land of the dead after feasting (often out of cucumbers).

Japanese Twitter user Kochagi (@kosagi_) decided to get a little creative this year with their spirit animals, in a way that would please any fans of beloved anime giant Studio Ghibli!

Kochagi has brilliantly crafted the obon spirit animals into veggie recreations of the Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro and Haku (in dragon form) from Spirited Away. Given their various speeds, Haku's status as a river spirit and link to the spirit world, they are the perfect vessels for ancestors to travel home in!

Catbus

Haku

Kochagi even inscribed "いえ" (ie), the Japanese word for "home" on the Catbus's destination display.

Taking a look at last year's Totoro effort, it appears that Studio Ghibli spirit animals are a yearly tradition for Kochagi!