{"id":3805,"date":"2022-06-10T10:10:33","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T08:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/blog?p=3805"},"modified":"2024-06-25T15:50:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T13:50:11","slug":"obon-festival-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/blog\/obon-festival-in-japan","title":{"rendered":"Obon Festival Guide: Meaning, traditions and dates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The Obon festival<\/strong> (\u304a\u76c6, also known as Bon festival) is an <strong>annual Japanese holiday<\/strong> that commemorates and <strong>remembers deceased ancestors<\/strong>. It is believed that their spirits return at this time to visit their relatives.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chochin (paper) lanterns<\/strong> are hung to guide the spirits and <strong>Obon dances<\/strong> (bon odori) are performed. Families have reunions and visit the graves of their relatives and make <strong>food offerings at altars and temples<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>It is observed from the <strong>13th to the 15th day of the 7th month<\/strong>. However, according to the solar calendar the 7th month is <strong>July<\/strong> but according to the lunar calendar, the 7th month is <strong>August<\/strong>. Obon is therefore celebrated at <strong>different times in different regions<\/strong> depending on which calendar is observed.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>official dates are August 13-15<\/strong> though it will be celebrated between July 13-15 in some places. The <strong>Obon week<\/strong> in mid-August is one of <strong>Japan\u2019s three major holiday seasons<\/strong> making it one of the busiest times of the year for traveling. Many Japanese people will leave their cities around August 10 and come back on August 17-18.<\/p>\n<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"toc_white no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Table of Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#Obon_traditions_and_celebrations\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">1<\/span> Obon traditions and celebrations<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#Floating_lanterns_toro_nagashi\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">1.1<\/span> Floating lanterns (toro nagashi)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Bon_Odori\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">1.2<\/span> Bon Odori<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#Obon_festivals_in_Japan\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">2<\/span> Obon festivals in Japan<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#The_origins_of_Obon\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">3<\/span> The origins of Obon<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Obon_traditions_and_celebrations\">Obon traditions and celebrations<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>On the <strong>first day of Obon<\/strong>, people take the chochin lanterns to the graves of their families. They call their ancestors\u2019 spirits back home in a ritual called <strong>mukae-bon<\/strong>. In some regions, <strong>huge fires are lit<\/strong> at the entrances of houses to guide the spirits to enter.<\/p>\n<p>At the <strong>end of the Obon festival<\/strong>, families help their ancestors\u2019 spirits <strong>return back to the grave<\/strong> by guiding them with their chochin lanterns. The ritual is called <strong>okuri-bon<\/strong>. Again, the ritual varies slightly between different regions of Japan.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Floating_lanterns_toro_nagashi\">Floating lanterns (toro nagashi)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In recent years, <strong>floating lanterns (toro nagashi)<\/strong> have gained in popularity. The beautiful lanterns float down a river that runs to the sea to symbolically send their <strong>ancestors\u2019 spirits<\/strong> into the sky, although customs vary from region to region.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Bon_Odori\">Bon Odori<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The style of the <strong>traditional Bon Odori dance<\/strong> varies from region to region but it is normally based around the rhythms of <strong>Japanese taiko drums<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Dancers perform on a <strong>yagura stage<\/strong> and participants wear light cotton kimonos. Anyone can join in the dances which are held in parks, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/blog\/best-temples-in-japan\">temples<\/a>, and other <strong>public places around Japan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3809\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3809\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\"  decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3809\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/bon-odori-paper-lanterns.jpg\" alt=\"Bon Odori paper lanterns\" width=\"700\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/bon-odori-paper-lanterns.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/bon-odori-paper-lanterns-300x193.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3809\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chochin lanterns to guide the spirits. Photo by: Fabian Reus @Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n            <a class=\"fasc-button banner-button-shortcode fasc-size-large fasc-type-flat fasc-rounded-medium ico-fa fasc-ico-after fa-chevron-circle-right fasc-style-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/the-japan-rail-pass\">\n                Buy your JR Pass\n            <\/a>\n        <\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Obon_festivals_in_Japan\">Obon festivals in Japan<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There are a number of <strong>special Obon festivals<\/strong> which tourists can visit using their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/\">JR Pass<\/a>. The <strong>Daimonji Festival in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/blog\/cities\/kyoto-travel-guide\">Kyoto<\/a><\/strong> is probably the most famous. A series of spectacular, 200m-long, <strong>character-shaped bonfires are built on mountainsides that are visible throughout the city. Each one is then individually set on fire.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For those who love to dance, the <strong>Gujo Odori Festival In Gujo<\/strong>, (Gifu\u00a0prefecture) is a week-long party where dancers perform <strong>each night from 8 pm until 5 in the morning<\/strong>. Over 1.3 million tourists go there each year.<\/p>\n<p>At the other end of the spectrum, if you\u2019re looking for a small festival that has <strong>preserved ancient traditions<\/strong>, there is the <strong>Hokkai Bon Odori<\/strong>. It is also the birthplace of one of the most famous <strong>Japanese traditional songs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3808\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3808\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\"  decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3808 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/daimonji-kyoto-obon-festival.jpg\" alt=\"Daimonji Kyoto Obon\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/daimonji-kyoto-obon-festival.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.jrailpass.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/daimonji-kyoto-obon-festival-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3808\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kyoto&#8217;s Gozan no Okuribi bonfire lit during the Obon festival. Photo by: J_o<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span id=\"The_origins_of_Obon\">The origins of Obon<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This <strong>Buddhist festival<\/strong> has been celebrated for <strong>more than 500 years<\/strong>. It originates from the story of <strong>Maha Maudgalyayana (Mokuren)<\/strong>. He was a disciple of Buddha who used his powers to see the spirit of his deceased mother. He discovered she had fallen into the <strong>Realm of Hungry Ghosts<\/strong> and was suffering.<\/p>\n<p>Buddha advised Mokuren to <strong>make offerings to Buddhist monks<\/strong>. On the 15th day of the 7th month, he followed Buddha\u2019s advice and his mother was released from her suffering. Mokuren danced with joy which is the <strong>origin of the Obon dance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Obon festival (\u304a\u76c6, also known as Bon festival) is an annual Japanese holiday that commemorates and remembers deceased ancestors. It is believed that their spirits return at this time to visit their relatives. Chochin (paper) lanterns are hung to guide the spirits and Obon dances (bon odori) are performed. Families have reunions and visit the graves of their relatives and make food offerings at altars and temples.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[92],"tags":[],"acf":{"related_tours":{"tour_number":false},"pageresume":"The Obon festival (also known as Bon festival) is an annual Japanese holiday which commemorates and remembers deceased ancestors.","bread_1":false,"bread_2":false,"bread_3":false,"bread_4":false,"bread_5":false,"bread_6":false,"bread_7":false,"bread_last":false,"custom_guide":"","shortcodes":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Obon Festival 2026 in Japan: Meaning, Traditions and Dates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Obon festival is one of the most important events on the Japanese calendar. 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