Bon Festival

Bon Odori (盆踊り), Obon (お盆) or Bon Dance, is a time when the Japanese honor their deceased ancestors and the sacrifices they have made...

Every year in August, (around the 23rd) Charlotte, NC holds a Bon Odori Festival to honor the deceased of the Japanese-Americans living in America and to promote Japanese culture amongst the American citizens.

They have a Japanese drum band that performs and they are just wonderful! You can also have your picture taken in a traditional Japanese kimono, eat an authentic bento lunch, walk around and enjoy the neat booths that are there, selling Japanese goods and much more!

It roots from a very interesting and inspirational story that dates back before the Meiji era of Japan.  Mokuren, a disciple of the Buddha, who used his supernatural powers to look upon his deceased mother. He discovered 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. The disciple did this and, thus, saw his mother's release. He also began to see the true nature of her past unselfishness and the many sacrifices that she had made for him. The disciple, happy because of his mother's release and grateful for his mother's kindness, danced with joy. From this dance of joy comes Bon Odori or "Bon Dance", a time in which ancestors and their sacrifices are remembered and appreciated.

 The festival of Obon lasts for 3 days; however its starting date varies within the different regions of Japan. When the lunar calendar was changed to the Gregorian Calendar in the beginning of the Meiji Era, the localities in Japan reacted differently and thus 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 areas such as Tokyo, Yokohama and the Tohoku region. "Hachigatsu Bon" (Bon in August) is based on the solar 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, Shikoku, and the Southwestern islands. These three days are not listed as public holidays but it is customary that people are given leave.

Obon shares some similarities with the predominantly Mexican observance of el Día de los Muertos, such as customs involving family reunion and care of ancestors' grave sites.

Ecchi Goshujin-sama and I will be attending this year together and will be sure to bring back some pictures and what not for all of your viewing pleasure. We hope you'll enjoy them as much as we will.

But for now, I leave you with this video.

Do you or your family members participate in traditions like this?

Have you ever been to a traditional Japanese festival?