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Obon (お盆) or just Bon (盆) 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 ancestor's graves, and 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 reacted differently and this resulted in three different times of Obon. "Shichigatsu Bon" (Bon in July) is based on the solar calendar and is celebrated around 15 July in eastern Japan (Kantō region such as Tokyo, Yokohama and the Tohoku region), coinciding with Chūgen. "Hachigatsu Bon" (Bon in August) is based on the lunar calendar, is celebrated around the 15th of August and is the most commonly celebrated time. "Kyu Bon" (Old Bon) is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and so differs each year. "Kyu Bon" is celebrated in areas like the northern part of the Kantō region, Chūgoku region, Shikoku, and the Okinawa Prefecture. These three days are not listed as public holidays but it is customary that people are given leave.



What is Obon?

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Obon is an abbreviation of urabon, the Japanese transliteration of the Sanskrit word Ullambana (于蘭盆會 or 盂蘭盆會) which literally means "to hang upside down." This word implies the unbearable suffering that ones has to bear, whether spiritual or physical, when being hung upside down.

The ritual of obon is conducted according to the teaching of Sâkyamuni Buddha as preached by him in the Urabon Sutra. The Urabon Sutra tells of Mokuren Sonja, a disciple of Sâkyamuni who was a priest famous for being the first amongst all the disciples for his supernatural powers. When he used his supernatural powers to look upon his mother who had died, he discovered that she had fallen into the path of hungry ghosts and was suffering. In order to save her, he asked Sâkyamuni for instruction, and was told to make offerings to the many priests who had just completed their summer retreat. Through the merits of this action his mother was saved from the path of hungry ghosts and was able to become a buddha. This is the story told in this sutra.



The meanings of obon as given in this short story lie first of all in filial piety and repaying one's gratitude, secondly in the notion of hell and paradise, and thirdly in the idea of making offerings to the community of monks.

On the first point, we can share in the mind of Mokuren Sonja in which he yearned for his mother even after she died, and wanted to repay the obligation and gratitude he felt toward his parents. There is an old saying: "If by the time you want to practice filial piety your parents are gone, you cannot lay a quilt over their graves, In the ?Sutra On The Weight Of Obligation Owed To Parents, Sâkyamuni said repeatedly to Ananda, "The weight of obligation we owe to our parents is as boundless as the heavens." The Chinese character for the word "obligation" is written with two parts meaning "dependent mind," and in a like manner the most important sentiment of the human mind and heart is that which knows obligation and repays obligation.

The lifestyles of modern Japanese are blessed by a civilization of material things and machines, but our thoughts arise from the source of a mind that is explained in the Urabon Sutra, and it is this mind that we should want as the basis for our lives and lifestyles.



The conditions of hell and paradise are also described in the Urabon Sutra. Hell is referred to as the "suffering of the three evil paths," while paradise is expressed with the words "the immense joy of the great gathering of bodhisattvas. From ancient times we have spoken of the rivers of the three evil paths and the pure land of paradise, and this is an explanation not only of the world we face after death, but also of the karmic causes and effects in the past, present, and future. Hell is the world of suffering in the three evil paths, and the path of fire is the pain of being burned by fire. The path of blood is the living hell of the blood bath in which the strong prey upon the weak. The path of swords is the world in which people inflict wounds upon each other with swords.
Paradise is the world filled with the joy brought about by the words of Íâkyamuni to "make offerings to the assembly of monks." Even today obon is a vessel for making offerings to people, and the Bon dance that follows the making of offerings is a dance for the harmony of people made possible around the figure of Mokuren and his joy. This is how the world of eliminating suffering and granting joy creates the pure land.



What is Bon-Odori?

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Bon-Odori (盆踊り), meaning simply Bon dance is a style of dancing performed during Obon. 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'yo folk songs. Consequently, the Bon dance will look and sound different from region to region. Hokkaidō is known for a folk-song known as "Soran Bushi." The song "Tokyo Ondo" takes its namesake from the capital of Japan. "Gujo Odori" in Gujō, 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," or "fool's dance," 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 dance of the Tankō Bushi (the "coal mining song") of old Miike Mine in Kyushu show the movements of miners, i.e. digging, cart pushing, lantern hanging, etc. 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 colorful designs. Some require the use of small wooden clappers, or "kachi-kachi" during the dance. The "Hanagasa Odori" of Yamagata is performed with a straw hat that has been decorated with flowers.



The music that is played during the Bon dance is not limited to Obon music and min'yo; 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.







Your MoCH team:

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Minister of Culture & History: Nanashi Senshi
Vice Minister of Culture & History: Turt037, sto kila bazuki
History Director: sto kila bazuki
Graphics Director: Turt037