{"id":59902,"date":"2024-07-16T18:29:05","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T10:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/?p=59902"},"modified":"2025-03-07T11:32:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T03:32:01","slug":"obon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.likejapan.com\/en\/life\/obon\/","title":{"rendered":"An Introduction to Obon- A Japanese Summer Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

You might have heard that the Japanese are organizing summer festival (\u590f\u796d\u308a) every year. There are different kinds of summer festivals, and “Obon” (\u304a\u76c6) is one of them. Do you know anything about “Obon”?<\/p>\n

“Obon” (\u304a\u76c6)<\/h2>\n

“Obon”\u00a0(\u304a\u76c6), also named”urabone” (\u76c2\u862d\u76c6\u4f1a), arises from the Buddhist ceremony. “Obon” was first held during the\u00a0Asuka period\u00a0(\u98db\u9ce5\u6642\u4ee3 Asuka jidai), which has a history of about 1400 years. It became a unique Japanese traditional festival for\u00a0ancestors worship after a thousand years. Before Meiji Period (\u660e\u6cbb\u6642\u4ee3 Meiji jidai) “Obon” was held on the 15th July of the lunar calendar, but now people stick to the solar calendar that “obon” is held mainly between 13-16th July or August every year, depending on regions.<\/p>\n

What do people do in “Obon”?<\/h2>\n

1. Shouryou Uma (\u7cbe\u970a\u99ac)<\/h2>\n

Japanese welcome the spirits of ancestors home during every-year “Obon”. Japanese will use eggplant and cucumber to make a horse called “shouryou uma” (\u7cbe\u970a\u99ac) for taking their ancestors’ spirits home.\u00a0 “Shouryou uma” literally means “the horse of spirits.”<\/p>\n

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2. Bon Dance\u00a0(\u76c6\u8e0a\u308a)<\/h2>\n

“Bon Dance” (\u76c6\u8e0a\u308a Bon Odori) is also part of this “Obon” tradition. Again, they dance for their ancestors and the music and style varies across Japan. The Guj\u014d Odori (\u90e1\u4e0a\u8e0a\u308a) of Gifu Prefecture, the Awa Odori (\u963f\u6ce2\u8e0a\u308a) of Tokushima Prefecture, and the Nishimonai no Bonodori (\u897f\u99ac\u97f3\u5185\u306e\u76c6\u8e0a\u308a) of Akita Prefecture are the three most famous “Bon Dance” in Japan. Let’s see below the\u00a0Guj\u014d Odori as an example.<\/p>\n

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\u5c90\u961c\u770c\u90e1\u4e0a\u8e0a\u308a
\u3053\u308c\u306f1700\u5e74\u4ee3\u304b\u3089\u7d9a\u3044\u3066\u308b\uff1f\u3082\u3063\u3068\u53e4\u3044\uff1f\uff1f
\u3068\u306b\u304b\u304f\u51c4\u3044\u6b74\u53f2\u3060(+_+) pic.twitter.com\/8RNr3ElTGR<\/a><\/p>\n

— KAZUYA (@KAZUYA_RV) January 16, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n