Obon
Practicesお盆 ・ Reading: obon
Definition
The midsummer festival when the spirits of ancestors are welcomed home. Families clean graves, light lanterns, and gather at their family temple, making Obon one of the two great homecoming seasons of the Japanese year.
Welcoming the ancestors
Obon is held around August 13 to 16 in most of Japan (mid-July in parts of Tokyo and eastern Japan). Families light welcome fires (mukaebi) and lanterns to guide the spirits home, set offerings at the family altar, and visit the family grave to wash the stone and offer flowers and incense, the custom of ohaka-mairi. Priests from the family temple may visit homes or hold sutra readings, and at the end send-off fires (okuribi) see the spirits away, most spectacularly in Kyoto's Gozan no Okuribi bonfires.
What visitors will notice
Obon is also a season of joy. Neighborhoods hold bon odori, circle dances around a raised platform with taiko drums, and rivers glow with floating lanterns (tōrō nagashi). Because millions travel to their hometowns, trains and roads are at their busiest; temples, by contrast, are at their most alive, filled with families rather than tourists. It is one of the best moments of the year to sense what a neighborhood temple means to its community.
Common questions
- When is Obon?
Around August 13 to 16 in most of Japan, though parts of Tokyo and eastern Japan observe it in mid-July. Exact customs and dates vary by region.
- What is bon odori?
The communal circle dance of the Obon season, performed in yukata around a raised yagura platform with taiko drums. Everyone is welcome to join, including visitors.
- Is Obon a good time to visit temples?
Yes, temples are wonderfully alive with family rites, lanterns, and dances, but book travel early: Obon is one of Japan's busiest travel seasons.