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Known as a Japanese Buddhist holiday, Bon or O-bon is a celebration to honor the departed spirits of one’s ancestors. It evolved into a family reunion holiday where people from big cities come home to their towns and visit the graves of their ancestors.

It is traditionally a dance festival which existed in the country for more than 500 years. The festivity is the Sanskrit for “hanging upside down in hell and suffering.” Japanese people are having the Toro Nagashi which is the floating of paper lanterns during the last evening of Obon which aims to guide the spirits in their journey. They also have the Bon Odori which is celebrated as a reminder of the gratefulness one should feel to one’s beloved ancestors.

The Bon dance is also a tradition in the country. It started in the later years of the Muromachi period as a public entertainment. As time passes by, the originally religious dance has faded and it then became associated with summer.

bon, japan, festival