Obon
Obon or just Bon 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 : 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 : This is the most commonly celebrated time across Japan.
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.
History of
The Japanese Obon Festival is heavily influenced by the Ghost Festival of Buddhism and the Chinese Taoist Festival.Before Buddhism came to Japan, there was already a custom in place to beckon the deceased home to their families twice a year, both in spring and autumn, on the night of the full moon. This custom already had a close connection to the ancestor-veneration characteristic it has in modernity.
The Buddhist tradition originates from the story of Maha Maudgalyayana, a disciple of the Buddha, who 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. 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. Mokuren did this and, thus, saw his mother's release. He also began to see the true nature of her past selflessness and the sacrifices she had made for him during her lifetime. The disciple, happy because of his mother's release from suffering and grateful for her many kindnesses, danced with joy. From this dance of joy comes the or "Bon Dance", a time during which ancestors and their sacrifices are remembered and appreciated. See also: Ullambana Sutra.
In recorded history, Obon was practised as a Buddhist tradition first under the reign of Empress Suiko. By 733, it seems to have been introduced as a customary Buddhist holiday in Japan within the court.
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 盂蘭盆 or 盂蘭盆會.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 , 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 , present participle of . 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 , and that the etymology was mistakenly attributed to Sanskrit.
Practices
is a style of dancing performed during Obon. It is a folk entertainment, which has a history of nearly 600 years. Originally a 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 folk songs. Consequently, the Bon dance appears different from region to region. Hokkaidō is known for the folk-song. The song takes its namesake from the capital of Japan. in Gujō in Gifu Prefecture is famous for all night dancing. is a folk song from Shiga Prefecture. Residents of the Kansai area will recognize the famous. Tokushima in Shikoku is very famous for its, and in the far south, one can hear the 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. The 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. Some dances reverse during the dance, though most do not. At times, people face the and move towards and away from it. Still some dances, such as the Kagoshima dance, and the Tokushima, 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 of old Miike Mine in Kyushu show the movements of miners, i.e. digging, cart pushing, lantern hanging, etc.; the above-mentioned mimics the work of fishermen such as hauling in the nets. 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 which may have colourful designs. Some require the use of small wooden clappers, or, during the dance.
The music that is played during the Bon dance is not limited to Obon music and ; some modern hits and kids' tunes written to the beat of the 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.
Altar
The altar in Japanese households, kamidana, are given care by the families with decorations and offerings such as flowers and straw figures of animals and food. They do this not only for their own deceased but for the souls of the households who no longer have relatives within their vicinity. The offerings are placed in front of the tablets with the deceased person's name on it.Lights
Families who have lost a family member during a current year are known to give special attention to the preparations of Obon. They will light a small fire on the first evening of the festival to guide the souls back home. In the past people would light a line of lights towards the cemetery to make sure the souls would find their way.On the third day of the festivities the souls are sent back to the other side with fires to see them off, this is referred to as Okuribi, or, in a larger scale, the Burning of the Character Big in the mountain. In this practice small lanterns are used that float down a river. This symbolises the way of the souls back to the world of the dead. Both these fires mark the commencement as well of the closing of the festival.