Bon Odori
 
After the first half of our summer vacation camp-out was finished we hurried back home to participate in our villages Bon Odori celebration. Bon Odori is a very large celebration in Japan that gives honor to the ancestors that have passed on. It is a Buddhist custom that has evolved over the years into a family reunion of sorts.
Usually people return to ancestral family places and visit their family members who have passed on gravesites, where the will clean them and leave flowers and offerings. Ancestors are said to visit household altars, also called the Feast of Lanterns, it has been celebrated for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon Odori.
Obon lasts for three days although the starting date is different for different regions of Japan, I have found that the weather has a lot to do with when the starting date is. The festival is similar to the Mexican tradition of “Dia de los Muertos“, (Day of the Dead).
Obon usually occurs during the heat of the summer (milder here in Hokkaido) so the clothes of choice is yukata’s which are light cotton kimonos. I was disappointed to find out that most adults do not wear yukatas in my area and only the kids were dressed in the beautiful festival clothes.
Leave it to the gaijin (foreigner) to keep the tradition going, I choose to wear a yukata as you can see from the slideshow. There were a few of the women that wore yukatas, but I was the only adult male.
The celebration was fun with great food, beer, and sake (rice wine). I had to be careful of how much I drank because we were leaving the next morning for the second half of our camping trip. I hope you all enjoy the pictures, and you can always check out my Flickr account of some of the sites that I encounter here in Japan. Take Care all!
4 Responses to “Bon Odori”
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I was already familiar with the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead but I was unaware of the Japanese tradition you describe. It makes sense to respect customs and to exert effort to preserve practices like wearing traditional clothing. I wonder how prevalent and visible mediums are during the Bon Odori. Is interacting with these kinds of people or spirit encouraged during this festive time?
Lovely photo of the two girls.
Liara I find that the Buddhism and Shinto followers also have heavy respect for the loved ones who have past on. It seems in America we forget our loved ones that have past on, but here they are mentioned and thought of quite frequently.
i enjoyed your post .It is very good and full of colours and the pictures.The photo of the two kids is very good beautifull and cute.it is well managed.