Obon

or just 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 syncretic folk 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 . 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. Traditionally, Obon was celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Obon is now observed during one of the following periods: * July 15 of the Gregorian calendar (Shichigatsu Bon or "Bon in July"): Observed in Tokyo and some urban areas of the Tōhoku and Hokuriku regions where agricultural busy seasons do not overlap with the festival dates. This practice is sometimes referred to as "Tokyo Obon." * August 15 of the Gregorian calendar (Hachigatsu Bon or "Bon in August"; Tsukiokure Bon or "Month Later Obon"): This is the most commonly celebrated time across Japan.…

or just 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 syncretic folk 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 . 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. Traditionally, Obon was celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Obon is now observed during one of the following periods: July 15 of the Gregorian calendar (Shichigatsu Bon or "Bon in July"): Observed in Tokyo and some urban areas of the Tōhoku and Hokuriku regions where agricultural busy seasons do not overlap with the festival dates. This practice is sometimes referred to as "Tokyo Obon." August 15 of the Gregorian calendar (Hachigatsu Bon or "Bon in August"; Tsukiokure Bon or "Month Later Obon"): This is the most commonly celebrated time across Japan. These days are not listed as public holidays, but it is customary for people to be given leave. Within the Japanese diaspora, the obon is usually tied to a fundraising event for a temple, church, and even non-sectarian Japanese community organizations. As a result, Japanese organizations within a particular region will often coordinate their dates on different weekends throughout the summer as the participants were not expected to be given leave during the workweek if the date fell on a weekday, and to allow for the greater community to support each other's events. It isn't uncommon for families in regions with a larger Japanese emigrant population to visit multiple festivals in support of the greater community. ===Etymology=== The Japanese word is composed of the honorific prefix and the word . The portion is from the longer Japanese names or , in turn from the Chinese terms ( ) or ( ). The Chinese terms are often described as deriving from Sanskrit meaning "hanging upside down", in reference to souls suffering in hell. However, the Sanskrit word was sparse, if at all, attested; in addition, it would be the present participle of verb Sanskrit ("to hang", intransitive), with no inherent "upside-down" meaning. Moreover, neither the purported meaning of "hanging upside-down" nor the verifiable meaning of "hanging" match the semantics very well, given that the ceremonies are about helping the dead, closer in meaning to the "helping" sense of the Pali verb ("raising, helping"), present participle of ("to raise up, to help"). This suggests that explanations of the dead hanging upside-down in hell are more likely to be folk etymologies based on a mistaken connection to the Sanskrit verb, rather than a more direct semantic link to the Pali. Alternatively, Takakusu Junjiro propounded that the origin was in fact Pali , a colloquial corruption of the Pali ("raising up; saving; helping"), and that the etymology was mistakenly attributed to Sanskrit. ==Festivals of shared origin== ===Hinduism=== (literally "fortnight of the ancestors") is a 16–lunar day period in Hindu calendar when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors ( ), especially through food offerings. is considered by Hindus to be inauspicious, given the death rite known as or performed during the ceremony. === Philippines=== 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. ==See also== Awa Dance Festival Day of the Dead, a Mexican festival also revolving around the dead Ghost Festival, the Chinese counterpart of the Obon Festival. Japanese calendar Japanese culture Parentalia, a festival in ancient Rome to honor ancestors, including bringing offerings to them on the last day, known as Feralia Pitru Paksha, a Hindu festival that bears similarities to the Obon festival Qingming Festival , the concept of offering food to the hungry ghosts in Japanese Buddhism Śrāddha, a 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 Veneration of the dead ==Notes== ==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, volume 1, 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. Ensho Ashikaga (1950), The Festival for the Spirits of the Dead in Japan, Western Folklore 9 (3), 217–228 ==External links== 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 Photo Gallery of Bon Odori 2007 in Penang, Malaysia El Bon Odori de La Plata en Argentina

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