Bon

Bon, one of the most popular annual festivals in Japan, observed July 13–15 (August 13–15 in some places), honoring the spirits of deceased ancestors and of the dead generally. It is, along with the New Year festival, one of the two main occasions during the year when the dead are believed to return to their birthplaces. Memorial stones are cleaned, community dances are performed, and paper lanterns and fires are lit to welcome the dead and to bid them farewell at the end of their visit.

The word Urabon was derived from the name of the Chinese Yulanpen Sutra (Urabon-kyō in Japanese; also called the Ullambana Sutra), which narrates the story of the holiday’s founding. In China the festival is called the Hungry Ghost Festival. The foundational story tells how Maudgalyayana, a disciple of the Buddha, secured his mother’s release from hell by having monks offer food, drink, and shelter to the spirits of his ancestors. According to the Japanese interpretation of the festival, when the mother of Maudgalyayana (Japanese: Mokuren) was released from her suffering, the monks joyfully danced. Hence, the festival in Japan prominently features a special Bon dance.

Celebrants take a break from work and visit relatives while ancestral spirits too are believed to visit their families during the festival. Colorful lanterns are lit to welcome the ghosts back to earth and to bid them farewell at the end of the festival. During the festival two altars are constructed, one to make offerings to the spirits of dead ancestors and the other to make offerings to hungry ghosts, who have not found peace. Odorinembutsu (the chanting of invocations accompanied by dancing and singing) and invocations to the savior Buddha Amida are other features of the Bon celebrations. Though observed as a Buddhist festival, Bon is not exclusively so; it reflects the ancient theme of close continuity in Japanese religious life between the living and the dead.