Obon

Obon Festival
A depiction of Obon in the late Edo period
Also called	Bon
Observed by	Japanese people
Type	Religious, Cultural
Significance	Honors the spirits of one's ancestors
Date	August 15 July 15 ( Kantō ) 15th day of the 7th lunar month
2023 date	August 30
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Tết Trung Nguyên (in Vietnam) Baekjung (in Korea) Pchum Ben (in Cambodia) Boun Khao Padap Din (in Laos) Mataka dānēs (in Sri Lanka) Sat Thai (in Thailand)

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Obon (お盆) or just Bon (盆) is a fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon Odori.

The festival of Obon lasts for three days; however, its starting date varies within different regions of Japan. When the

The Japanese Obon Festival is heavily influenced from the Ghost Festival of Buddhism, and the Chinese Taoist Zhongyuan (中元) Festival.

The Buddhist tradition originates from the story of

As Obon occurs in the heat of the summer, participants traditionally wear yukata, a kind of light cotton kimono. Many Obon celebrations include a huge carnival with rides, games, and summer festival foods.^[3]

During the festival, families traditionally sent their ancestors' spirits back to their permanent dwelling place under the guidance of fire in a ritual known as Okuribi ("sending fire"), or, in a larger scale, the Burning of the Character Big in the mountain. Fire also marks the commencement (Mukaebi) as well as the closing of the festival.^[4]

Another significant ritual practiced during the Obon festival in Japan is to craft a cucumber horse and eggplant cow, known as shōryō uma (精霊馬, "spirit horse") or ushi uma (牛馬, "cow horse"),^[5][6] that act as a vessel for the ancestors to come back home and return, respectively.^[7]

Etymology

The Japanese word obon is composed of the honorific prefix o- and the word bon. The bon portion is from the longer Japanese names Urabon (盂蘭盆) or Urabon'e (盂蘭盆会), in turn from the Chinese terms 盂蘭盆 (Yúlánpén) or 盂蘭盆會 (Yúlánpénhuì).

The Chinese terms are often described as deriving from

propounded that the origin was in fact Pali ullumbana, a colloquial corruption of the Pali ullumpana ("raising up; saving; helping"), and that the etymology was mistakenly attributed to Sanskrit.

Bon Odori

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Sasebo

River during Obon.

Bon Odori (

The way in which the dance is performed is also different in each region, though the typical Bon dance involves people lining up in a circle around a high wooden scaffold made especially for the festival called a yagura. The yagura is usually also the bandstand for the musicians and singers of the Obon music. Some dances proceed clockwise, and some dances proceed counter-clockwise around the yagura. Some dances reverse during the dance, though most do not. At times, people face the yagura and move towards and away from it. Still some dances, such as the Kagoshima Ohara dance, and the Tokushima Awa Odori, simply proceed in a straight line through the streets of the town.

The dance of a region can depict the area's history and specialization. For example, the movements of the dance of the

in Kyushu show the movements of miners, i.e. digging, cart pushing, lantern hanging, etc.; the above-mentioned Soran Bushi mimics the work of fishermen such as hauling in the nets. All dancers perform the same dance sequence in unison.

There are other ways in which a regional Bon dance can vary. Some dances involve the use of different kinds of fans, others involve the use of small towels called tenugui which may have colourful designs. Some require the use of small wooden clappers, or "kachi-kachi", during the dance.

The music that is played during the Bon dance is not limited to Obon music and min'yō; some modern enka hits and kids' tunes written to the beat of the ondo are also used to dance to during Obon season.

The Bon dance tradition is said to have started in the later years of the Muromachi period as a public entertainment. In the course of time, the original religious meaning has faded, and the dance has become associated with summer.

The Bon dance performed in the

Angama

Festivals of shared origin

Buddhism

Korea

The Korean version of the Obon celebration is known as

In the Philippines, Filipinos of Japanese descent, with support from the Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai Inc., Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School, Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku, and various other Japanese Filipino-based organizations, hold an Obon festival every year along with other Japanese-based Filipino festivals, to celebrate the ancestors of Filipinos of Japanese descent, and to celebrate the friendship between Japan and the Philippines.^[16][17]

Argentina

In Argentina, the Obon Festival is celebrated by Japanese communities during the summer of the southern hemisphere. The biggest festival is held in Colonia Urquiza, in La Plata. It takes place on the sports ground of the La Plata Japanese School. The festival also includes taiko shows and typical dances.^[18]

Brazil

Obon Festival is celebrated every year in many Japanese communities all over Brazil, as Brazil is home to

In Malaysia, Obon Festival is also celebrated every year in Esplanade, Penang, Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam, Selangor, and also Universiti Malaysia Sabah at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. This celebration, which is a major attraction for the state of Selangor, is the brainchild of the Japanese Expatriate & Immigrant's Society in Malaysia. In comparison to the celebrations in Japan, the festival is celebrated on a much smaller scale in Penang, Selangor and Sabah, and is less associated with Buddhism and more with Japanese culture. Held mainly to expose locals to a part of Japanese culture, the festival provides the experience of a variety of Japanese food and drinks, art and dance, with the vast number of Japanese companies in Malaysia taking part to promote their products.

United States and Canada

Obon festivals are also celebrated in North America, particularly by

Bon Odori melodies are also similar to those in Japan; for example, the dance Tankō Bushi from Kyushu is also performed in the U.S. In California, due to the diffusion of Japanese immigration, Bon Odori dances also differ from Northern to Southern California, and some are influenced by American culture, such as "Baseball Ondo".

The "Obon season" is an important part of the present-day culture and life of

Some Japanese museums may also hold Obon festivals, such as the Morikami Museum^[27] in Florida.

In

• Segaki, the concept of offering food to the hungry ghosts in Japanese Buddhism
• Awa Dance Festival
• Ghost Festival, the Chinese counterpart of the Obon Festival.
• Parentalia, a festival in ancient Rome to honor ancestors, including bringing offerings to their on the last day, known as Feralia
• Pitru Paksha, a Hindu festival that bears similarities to the Obon festival
• Day of the Dead, a Mexican festival also revolving around the dead
• Qingming Festival
• Japanese calendar
• Japanese culture
• Veneration of the dead
• Hindu
  culture celebrated for half moon cycle to give the offerings and honor ancestors. Celebrated in all Indian State.
• Takeda Lullaby, a folk lullaby from the Kyoto region in which the Obon Festival is mentioned

References

Bibliography

• Marinus Willem de Visser: Ancient Buddhism in Japan – Sutras and Ceremonies in Use in the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. and their History in Later Times. 2 volumes, Paul Geuthner, Paris 1928–1931; Brill, Leiden 1935, pp 58–115
• Robert J. Smith: Ancestor Worship in Contemporary Japan, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1974.
  ISBN 0-8047-0873-8
• Ensho Ashikaga (1950), The Festival for the Spirits of the Dead in Japan, Western Folklore 9 (3), 217-228  – via JSTOR (subscription required)

External links

Look up Obon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bon Festival.

• List All Japanese Obon Festivals & Bon Odori Practices – Schedule
• Bon Dance: Description of various Bon Dance styles and resources. (archived 17 December 2009)
• Obon Festival in Japan Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
• Photo Gallery of Bon Odori 2007 in Penang, Malaysia
• El Bon Odori de La Plata en Argentina