Bon Festival


Obon or just Bon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian 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 lunar calendar was changed to the Gregorian calendar at the beginning of the Meiji era, the localities in Japan responded differently, which resulted in three different times of Obon. Shichigatsu Bon is based on the solar calendar and is celebrated around the 15th of July in eastern Japan, coinciding with Chūgen. Hachigatsu Bon, based on the lunar calendar, is celebrated around the August 15 and is the most commonly celebrated time. Kyū Bon is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and so differs each year, which appears between August 8 and September 7. One exception was in 2008 and 2019, when the solar and lunar calendar matched so Hachigatsu Bon and Kyū Bon were celebrated on the same day. Kyū Bon is celebrated in areas such as the northern part of the Kantō region, Chūgoku region, Shikoku, and Okinawa Prefecture. These three festival days are not listed as public holidays, but it is customary for people to be given leave.

Origin

The Japanese Bon Festival originated from the Ghost Festival of China, which is itself a combination of the Buddhist Ullambana and Taoist Zhongyuan. The word obon is a shortened form of Ullambana, a Sanskrit meaning "hanging upside down", which implies great suffering. The people who take part in this festival believe they should ameliorate the suffering of the Urabanna.
The Buddhist tradition originates from the story of Maha Maudgalyayana, a disciple of the Buddha, who used his supernatural powers to look upon his deceased mother only to discover she had fallen into the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and was suffering. Greatly disturbed, he went to the Buddha and asked how he could release his mother from this realm. Buddha instructed him to make offerings to the many Buddhist monks who had just completed their summer retreat on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Mokuren did this and, thus, saw his mother's release. He also began to see the true nature of her past selflessness and the sacrifices she had made for him during her lifetime. The disciple, happy because of his mother's release from suffering and grateful for her many kindnesses, danced with joy. From this dance of joy comes Bon Odori or "Bon Dance", a time during which ancestors and their sacrifices are remembered and appreciated. See also: Ullambana Sutra.
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.
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. Fire also marks the commencement as well as the closing of the festival.

Bon Odori

Bon Odori, meaning simply Bon dance, is a style of dancing performed during Obon. It is a folk entertainment, which has a history of nearly 600 years. Originally a Nenbutsu folk dance to welcome the spirits of the dead, the style of celebration varies in many aspects from region to region. Each region has a local dance, as well as different music. The music can be songs specifically pertinent to the spiritual message of Obon, or local min'yō folk songs. Consequently, the Bon dance will look and sound different from region to region. Hokkaidō is known for a folk-song known as "Sōran Bushi". The song "Tokyo Ondo" takes its namesake from the capital of Japan. "Gujo Odori" in Gujō in Gifu Prefecture is famous for all night dancing. "Gōshū Ondo" is a folk song from Shiga Prefecture. Residents of the Kansai area will recognize the famous "Kawachi ondo". Tokushima in Shikoku is very famous for its "Awa Odori", and in the far south, one can hear the "Ohara Bushi" of Kagoshima.
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 dance9 of the Tankō Bushi of old Miike Mine 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 Okinawa Islands is known as eisā. Similarly, the Yaeyama Islands have Angama.

Festivals of shared origin

India

Pitri Paksha, also spelt as Pitru Paksha, Pitr Paksha is a 16–lunar day period in Hindu calendar when Hindus pay homage to their ancestor, especially through food offerings. The period is also known as Pitru Pakshya, Pitri Pokkho, Solah Shraddha, Kanagat, Jitiya, Mahalaya Paksha and Apara Paksha.
Pitri Paksha is considered by Hindus to be inauspicious, given the death rite performed during the ceremony, known as Shraddha or Tarpana.

China and Vietnam

Korea

The Korean version of the Bon celebration is known as Baekjung. Participants present offerings at Buddhist shrines and temples, and masked dances are performed. It is as much an agricultural festival as a religious one.

Celebrations outside Japan

Argentina

In Argentina, the Bon 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.

Brazil

Bon Odori Festival is celebrated every year in many Japanese communities all over Brazil, as Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside Japan. São Paulo is the main city of the Japanese community in Brazil, and also features the major festival in Brazil, with street odori dancing and matsuri dance. It also features Taiko and Shamisen contests. And of course, this festival is also a unique experience of a variety of Japanese food & drinks, art and dance.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, Bon Odori Festivals are 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 brain child 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

Bon Odori festivals are also celebrated in North America, particularly by Japanese-Americans or Japanese-Canadians affiliated with Buddhist temples and organizations. Buddhist Churches of America temples in the U.S. typically celebrate Bon Odori with both religious Obon observances and traditional Bon Odori dancing around a yagura. Many temples also concurrently hold a cultural and food bazaar providing a variety of cuisine and art, also to display features of Japanese culture and Japanese-American history. Performances of taiko by both amateur and professional groups have recently become a popular feature of Bon Odori festivals. Bon Odori festivals are usually scheduled anytime between July and September.
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 "Bon season" is an important part of the present-day culture and life of Hawaii. It was brought there by the plantation workers from Japan, and now the bon dance events are held among the five major islands on weekend evenings from June to August. They are held usually at Buddhist missions, but sometimes at Shintoist missions or at shopping centres. At some Buddhist missions, the dance is preceded by a simple ritual where the families of the deceased in the past year burn incense for remembrance, but otherwise the event is non-religious. The songs played differ among the regions --- one or two hour bon dance in the western part of the Big Island, for example, typically starts with Tankō Bushi, continues with songs such as Kawachi Otoko Bushi, Yukata Odori, Asatoya Yunta and Ashibina from Okinawa Prefecture, Pokémon Ondo for children, zumba songs for the young, Beautiful Sunday, etc., and ends with Fukushima Ondo celebrating abundant harvest. The participants, Japanese descendants and the people of all races, dance in a big circle around the yagura, the central tower set up for the dance, from which recorded songs are broadcast and, most of the time, the taiko group accompany the songs playing drums. In larger cities, bon dance lessons are given by volunteers before the actual events.
Some Japanese museums may also hold Obon festivals, such as the Morikami Japanese Museum in Florida.
In St. Louis Missouri the Botanical Garden has hosted a Bon festival over Labor Day weekend every year since 1977. Known as the Japanese festival it is a collaboration with several Japanese-American organizations. Hosting thousands of people over 3 days it provides authentic Japanese music, art, dance, food, and entertainment including dancing around a yagura, sumo wrestling, Taiko drums, Bonsai demonstrations, music played on traditional instruments, several bazaars, food courts with authentic Japanese foods, tea ceremonies, candlelit lanterns released on the lake in the gardens Japanese garden and much more.