Participants traditionally wear yukatas, a kind of light cotton kimono. In the middle of a square is a platform on which, usually, someone leads a song and the participants dance around it to the beat of Japanese taiko drums. Bon Odoriīon Odori, or the Bon dance, is a style of dancing performed during Obon in the night. In addition to sweeping tombs, people also place these offerings in front of Buddhist niches in their homes. It expresses the people's hope that their ancestors will come back quickly and go away slowly. Therefore, when the first day of calling the spirits home comes, people offer cucumber horses, and when the last day of guiding the spirits back to their resting places comes, people offer eggplant cows. They are known as spirit mounts for the ancestors. The most distinctive offerings are cucumbers and eggplants made into the shapes of horses and cows respectively. People return to their hometowns from the cities and visit the graves of their ancestors to offer sacrifices, such as flowers and fruits. Obon is the second biggest traditional holiday in Japan after Japanese New Year. From this dance of joy comes Bon Odori or the "Bon Dance”. Mokuren did this and, thus, saw his mother's relief. 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. Greatly saddened, he went to the Buddha and asked how he could relieve his mother’s suffering. He tired using his powers to feed food into his mother's mouth, only to see the food just fed into her mouth turn into charcoal. He 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. The Obon Festival originates from the Buddhist story of Maha Maudgalyayana (Mokuren), a disciple of the Buddha. The festival starts and ends with a large bonfire and throughout the holiday the streets are decorated with beautiful lanterns.
#DEAD REALM ALL GHOSTS UPDATE#
While cleaning the graves, some may talk to their ancestors and update them on events that have occurred over the previous year including births and marriages.Īlthough this holiday may sound a little somber to Westerners, Obon is actually a happy and joyous festival filled with dancing, street food, and celebration s. During Obon, people also clean and decorate the graves of their ancestors. The idea behind all of these holidays is quite similar. This festival is often compared to Mexico's Day of the Dead and China's Hungry Ghost Festival.
During this time, it is believed that all spirits return back to Earth and most families will leave offerings for their ancestor's spirits or hang lanterns to lead them home. Obon is a yearly festival that is celebrated to remember and cherish one's ancestors.
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