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ing here and not give them trouble". According to the introduction in the Pang (see Appendix), as posted up at the main entrance, "the festival was held for the purpose of assisting the reincarnation of i) the soldiers who died during the world wars, ii) the ancestors of all surnames, and iii) the ghosts who were not worshipped by anyone. And it was hoped that through the mediation of the priests, the Three Buddhas and all the spirits would give their permission and open the door for them to cross-over and become human beings again. However, the worshippers, being more interested in self-prosperity, were more concerned about their own ancestors who are the only ones who can guarantee their prosperity.
V. Conclusion; History of the Festival in Kobe
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According to an appeal to the Hyogo Government in 1873, the Ningpo merchants were the first to hold a Ghost Festival for the Chinese in Kobe. Mr. Chan (70 years old, Cantonese, born and educated in Kobe, now vice-president of the History Museum of the Kobe Chinese) told me that before the Second World War, the festival was organized by the Cantonese who then out-numbered the Hokkienese. The Cantonese were wealthier and 'had more knowledge'. Mr. Chan continued to tell me that during that time the Hokkienese were relatively poor. They were mostly travelling merchants (f). They therefore had no stable residential place neither were they economically strong enough to be the organizers of the festival. Though there was a bachelor-centre for about 17 Hokkienese laborers in Nagoya about 30 years ago, there was no Hokkienese cluster in Kobe. Today, however all the three Chinese Ghost Festivals in Japan are organised by the Hokkienese". Mr. Chan's narration agrees with the information given by Li Ta-shen.36 The Hokkienese, now organisers of the Festival, had never been an influential group until the end of the Second World War. However, since then, until 1978, the Hokkienese were said to be the centre of the Kobe festival.37
Due to the anti-Chinese incident in Kobe in 1976, the Chinese started to pursue unification among all the different Chinese territorial groups, and to disregard their origins. In 1978, the Kobe Chinese News (US) was changed to the Kansai Chi-