Obon

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Script error: No such module "Nihongo". or just Script error: No such module "Nihongo". is a fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Template:Transliteration.

The festival of Obon lasts for three days; however, its starting date varies within different regions of Japan. When the lunar calendar was changed to the Gregorian calendar at the beginning of the Meiji era, the localities in Japan responded differently, which resulted in three different times of Obon. Traditionally, Obon was celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar.

Obon is now observed during one of the following periods:

  • July 15 of the Gregorian calendar (Shichigatsu Bon or "Bon in July"): Observed in Tokyo and some urban areas of the Tōhoku region and Hokuriku region regions where agricultural busy seasons do not overlap with the festival dates. This practice is sometimes referred to as "Tokyo Obon."
  • August 15 of the Gregorian calendar (Hachigatsu Bon or "Bon in August"; Tsukiokure Bon or "Month Later Obon"): This is the most commonly celebrated time across Japan.
  • 15th day of the seventh lunar month (Kyū Bon or "Old Bon"): Observed in Okinawa and the Amami Islands, this version follows the lunar calendar, so the dates change yearly on the Gregorian calendar, sometimes extending into September.

These days are not listed as public holidays, but it is customary for people to be given leave.

History of Template:Transliteration

File:Gozanokuribi Daimonji2.jpg
Kyoto's Template:Transliteration bonfire lit during the Obon festival
File:Bon-odori-2014.ogv
(video) Neighborhood Bon Odori festival in Adachi-ku, Tokyo (2014)

The Japanese Obon Festival is heavily influenced by the Ghost Festival of Buddhism and the Chinese Taoist Template:Transliteration (Script error: No such module "Lang".) Festival.

Before Buddhism came to Japan, there was already a custom in place to beckon the deceased home to their families twice a year, both in spring and autumn, on the night of the full moon. This custom already had a close connection to the ancestor-veneration characteristic it has in modernity.[1]

The Buddhist tradition originates from the story of Maha Maudgalyayana (Mokuren), a disciple of the Buddha, who used his supernatural powers to look upon his deceased mother only to discover she had fallen into the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and was suffering.[2] Greatly disturbed, he went to the Buddha and asked how he could release his mother from this realm. Buddha instructed him to make offerings to the many Buddhist monks who had just completed their summer retreat on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Mokuren did this and, thus, saw his mother's release. He also began to see the true nature of her past selflessness and the sacrifices she had made for him during her lifetime. The disciple, happy because of his mother's release from suffering and grateful for her many kindnesses, danced with joy. From this dance of joy comes the Template:Transliteration or "Bon Dance", a time during which ancestors and their sacrifices are remembered and appreciated. See also: Ullambana Sutra.

In recorded history, Obon was practised as a Buddhist tradition first under the reign of Empress Suiko (592—628). By 733, it seems to have been introduced as a customary Buddhist holiday in Japan within the court.[1]

Etymology

The Japanese word Template:Transliteration is composed of the honorific prefix Template:Transliteration and the word Template:Transliteration. The Template:Transliteration portion is from the longer Japanese names Script error: No such module "Nihongo". or Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., in turn from the Chinese terms Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) or Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration).

The Chinese terms are often described as deriving from Sanskrit Template:Transliteration meaning "hanging upside down", in reference to souls suffering in hell.[3] However, the Sanskrit word was sparse, if at all, attested;[4] in addition, it would be the present participle of verb Sanskrit Template:Transliteration ("to hang", intransitive), with no inherent "upside-down" meaning.[5][6]

Moreover, neither the purported meaning of "hanging upside-down" nor the verifiable meaning of "hanging" match the semantics very well, given that the Template:Transliteration ceremonies are about helping the dead, closer in meaning to the "helping" sense of the Pali verb Template:Transliteration ("raising, helping"), present participle of Template:Transliteration ("to raise up, to help").[7] This suggests that explanations of the dead hanging upside-down in hell are more likely to be folk etymologies based on a mistaken connection to the Sanskrit verb, rather than a more direct semantic link to the Pali. Alternatively, Takakusu Junjiro[4] propounded that the origin was in fact Pali Template:Transliteration, a colloquial corruption of the Pali Template:Transliteration ("raising up; saving; helping"), and that the etymology was mistakenly attributed to Sanskrit.

Practices

Template:Transliteration

Template:More citations needed

File:Albuquerque Bridge-Sasebo River, Sasebo.jpg
Participants place candlelit lanterns in the Sasebo River during Obon.

Script error: No such module "Nihongo". is a style of dancing performed during Obon. It is a folk entertainment, which has a history of nearly 600 years.[8] Originally a Template:Transliteration folk dance to welcome the spirits of the dead, the style of celebration varies in many aspects from region to region.[1] Each region has a local dance, as well as different music. The music can be songs specifically pertinent to the spiritual message of Obon, or local Template:Transliteration folk songs. Consequently, the Bon dance appears different from region to region. Hokkaidō is known for the folk-song Template:Transliteration. The song Template:Transliteration takes its namesake from the capital of Japan. Template:Transliteration in Gujō in Gifu Prefecture is famous for all night dancing. Template:Transliteration is a folk song from Shiga Prefecture. Residents of the Kansai area will recognize the famous Template:Transliteration. Tokushima in Shikoku is very famous for its Template:Transliteration, and in the far south, one can hear the Template:Transliteration of Kagoshima.

File:Obon offering.jpg
An Obon offering

The way in which the dance is performed is also different in each region, though the typical Bon dance involves people lining up in a circle around a high wooden scaffold made especially for the festival called a Template:Transliteration. The Template:Transliteration is usually also the bandstand for the musicians and singers of the Obon music. Some dances proceed clockwise, and some dances proceed counter-clockwise around the Template:Transliteration. Some dances reverse during the dance, though most do not. At times, people face the Template:Transliteration and move towards and away from it. Still some dances, such as the Kagoshima Template:Transliteration dance, and the Tokushima Template:Transliteration, simply proceed in a straight line through the streets of the town.

File:Tokyo Zōjō-ji temple festival 20100730 7109.jpg
Template:Transliteration dancers (30 July 2010 at Zōjō-ji in Tokyo)

The dance of a region can depict the area's history and specialization. For example, the movements of the dance of the Template:Transliteration (the "coal mining song") of old Miike Mine in Kyushu show the movements of miners, i.e. digging, cart pushing, lantern hanging, etc.; the above-mentioned Template:Transliteration mimics the work of fishermen such as hauling in the nets. All dancers perform the same dance sequence in unison.

There are other ways in which a regional Bon dance can vary. Some dances involve the use of different kinds of fans, others involve the use of small towels called Template:Transliteration which may have colourful designs. Some require the use of small wooden clappers, or Template:Transliteration, during the dance.

The music that is played during the Bon dance is not limited to Obon music and Template:Transliteration; some modern Template:Transliteration hits and kids' tunes written to the beat of the Template:Transliteration are also used to dance to during Obon season.

File:六本木ヒルズ盆踊り三本締め.jpg
Template:Transliteration dancers (27 August 2017 at Roppongi Hills in Tokyo)

The Bon dance tradition is said to have started in the later years of the Muromachi period as a public entertainment. In the course of time, the original religious meaning has faded, and the dance has become associated with summer.

The Bon dance performed in the Okinawa Islands is known as Template:Transliteration. Similarly, the Yaeyama Islands have Template:Transliteration.

Altar

The altar in Japanese households, kamidana, are given care by the families with decorations and offerings such as flowers and straw figures of animals and food. They do this not only for their own deceased but for the souls of the households who no longer have relatives within their vicinity. The offerings are placed in front of the tablets with the deceased person's name on it.[9]

Lights

Families who have lost a family member during a current year are known to give special attention to the preparations of Obon. They will light a small fire on the first evening of the festival to guide the souls back home. In the past people would lit a line of lights towards the cemetery to make sure the souls would find their way.[9]

File:Syoryou-uma,obon,katori-city,japan.JPG
The Template:Nihongo3 or Template:Nihongo3, vegetable decorations made for O-bon

On the third day of the festivities the souls are sent back to the other side with fires to see them off, this is referred to as Okuribi ("sending fire"), or, in a larger scale, the Burning of the Character Big in the mountain. In this practice small lanterns are used that float down a river. This symbolises the way of the souls back to the world of the dead.[1] Both these fires mark the commencement (mukaebi) as well of the closing of the festival.[10]

Shōryō Uma and Ushi Uma

Another significant ritual practiced during the Obon festival in Japan is to craft a cucumber horse and eggplant cow, known as Template:Nihongo3 or Template:Nihongo3,[11][12] that act as a vessel for the ancestors to come back home and return, respectively.[13]

Clothing

As Obon occurs in the heat of the summer, participants traditionally wear Template:Transliteration, a kind of light cotton kimono. Many Obon celebrations include a huge carnival with rides, games, and summer festival foods.[14]

Festivals of shared origin

Buddhism

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Korea

The Korean version of the Obon celebration is known as Template:Transliteration. Participants present offerings at Buddhist shrines and temples, and masked dances are performed. It is as much an agricultural festival as a religious one.[15][16]

Vietnam

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Hinduism

Template:Transliteration (literally "fortnight of the ancestors") is a 16–lunar day period in Hindu calendar when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors (Template:Transliteration), especially through food offerings. Template:Transliteration is considered by Hindus to be inauspicious, given the death rite known as Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration performed during the ceremony.

Celebrations outside Japan

Philippines

In the Philippines, Filipinos of Japanese descent, with support from the Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai Inc., Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School, Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku, and various other Japanese Filipino-based organizations, hold an Obon festival every year along with other Japanese-based Filipino festivals, to celebrate the ancestors of Filipinos of Japanese descent, and to celebrate the friendship between Japan and the Philippines.[17][18]

Argentina

In Argentina, the Obon Festival is celebrated by Japanese communities during the summer of the southern hemisphere. The biggest festival is held in Colonia Urquiza, in La Plata. It takes place on the sports ground of the La Plata Japanese School. The festival also includes Template:Transliteration shows and typical dances.[19]

Brazil

Obon Festival is celebrated every year in many Japanese communities all over Brazil, as Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside Japan. São Paulo is the main city of the Japanese community in Brazil, and also features the major festival in Brazil, with street Template:Transliteration dancing and Template:Transliteration dance. It also features Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration contests. The festival also features a variety of Japanese food and drink, art and dance. Obon is also celebrated in communities of Japanese immigrants and their descendants and friends throughout South America: Obon festivals can be found in the states of Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Goiás, Amazonas, Pará (Tomé-Açu), Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pernambuco, Bahia, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Brasília.[20]

Malaysia

In Malaysia, Obon Festival is also celebrated every year in Esplanade, Penang, Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam, Selangor, and also Universiti Malaysia Sabah at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. This celebration, which is a major attraction for the state of Selangor, is the brainchild of the Japanese Expatriate & Immigrant's Society in Malaysia. In comparison to the celebrations in Japan, the festival is celebrated on a much smaller scale in Penang, Selangor and Sabah, and is less associated with Buddhism and more with Japanese culture. Held mainly to expose locals to a part of Japanese culture, the festival provides the experience of a variety of Japanese food and drinks, art and dance, with the vast number of Japanese companies in Malaysia taking part to promote their products.

United States and Canada

Obon festivals are also celebrated in North America, particularly by Japanese-Americans or Japanese-Canadians affiliated with Buddhist temples and organizations. Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) temples in the U.S. typically celebrate Obon Festival with both religious Obon observances and traditional Template:Transliteration dancing around a Template:Transliteration. Many temples also concurrently hold a cultural and food bazaar providing a variety of cuisine and art, also to display features of Japanese culture and Japanese-American history.[21] Performances of taiko by both amateur and professional groups have recently become a popular feature of Bon Odori festivals.[22][23] Obon festivals are usually scheduled anytime between July and September.

Template:Transliteration melodies are also similar to those in Japan; for example, the dance Template:Transliteration from Kyushu is also performed in the U.S. In California, due to the diffusion of Japanese immigration, Template:Transliteration dances also differ from Northern to Southern California, and some are influenced by American culture, such as "Baseball Template:Transliteration".

File:Bon Dance in Keei, Hawaii.jpg
Bon Dance in Ke'ei, Hawaii, under the monkey pod tree of the Buddhist mission

The "Obon season" is an important part of the present-day culture and life of Hawaii. It was brought there by the plantation workers from Japan, and now the Bon dance events are held among the five major islands (Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii) on weekend evenings from June to August. They are held usually at Buddhist missions, but sometimes at Shintoist missions or at shopping centres.[24][25] At some Buddhist missions, the dance is preceded by a simple ritual where the families of the deceased in the past year burn incense for remembrance, but otherwise the event is non-religious. The songs played differ among the regions - one or two hour Bon dance in the Western part of the Big Island (in and around Kailua Kona), for example, typically starts with Template:Transliteration, continues with songs such as Template:Transliteration (using wooden clappers), Template:Transliteration (using Template:Transliteration given at the donation desk), Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration from Okinawa Prefecture (reflecting the fact that many Okinawan descendants live in Hawaii), Template:Transliteration for children, zumba songs for the young, Beautiful Sunday, etc., and ends with Template:Transliteration, celebrating abundant harvest.[26] The participants, Japanese descendants and the people of all races, dance in a big circle around the Template:Transliteration, the central tower set up for the dance, from which recorded songs are broadcast and, most of the time, the Template:Transliteration group accompany the songs playing drums. In larger cities, Bon dance lessons are given by volunteers before the actual events.[27]

Some Japanese museums may also hold Obon festivals, such as the Morikami Museum[28] in Florida.

In St. Louis, Missouri, the Botanical Garden has hosted an Obon festival over Labor Day weekend every year since 1977. Known as the Japanese festival, it is a collaboration with several Japanese-American organizations, and hosts thousands of people over a three-day period. The festival provides authentic Japanese music, art, dance, food, and entertainment including dancing around a Template:Transliteration, sumo wrestling, Template:Transliteration drums, bonsai demonstrations, music played on traditional instruments, several bazaars, food courts with authentic Japanese foods, tea ceremonies, candlelit lanterns released on the lake in the gardens Japanese garden and much more.[29]

In Salt Lake City, Utah, the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple holds an Obon festival in mid-July with food, temple tours, taiko performances, and a Japanese goods store.

See also

Notes

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References

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Bibliography

External links

Template:Sister project Template:Sister project

Template:Country topics Template:Asia in topic Template:Halloween

  1. ↑ a b c d Iwasaka; Toelken (1994): 28.
  2. ↑ What is Obon, 1998, Shingon Buddhist International Institute, California, http://www.shingon.org/library/archive/Obon.html.
  3. ↑ Chen, K 1968, ‘Filial Piety in Chinese Buddhism’, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, p. 88.
  4. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ ullamb-related entries at SpokenSanskrit.org website
  6. ↑ ullamb entry at Sanskrit Dictionary website
  7. ↑ ulllumpana entry at The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary websiteTemplate:Dead link
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ a b Michiko Iwasaka, Barre, Toelken (1994): Death Customs in Contemporary Japan. In: Ghosts and the Japanese: Cultural Experience in Japanese Death Legends. Denver: University Press of Colorado. p. 26.
  10. ↑ Hur, Nam-Lin (2007). Death and Social Order in Tokugawa Japan: Buddhism, Anti-Christianity, and the Danka System. Harvard University Asia Center, 2007. p. 192. Template:ISBN.
  11. ↑ Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, available online via the Kotobank entry for shōryō uma here (in Japanese)
  12. ↑ Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, available online via the Kotobank entry for ushi uma here (in Japanese)
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Obon: Japanese festival of the dead, 2000, Asia Society, http://www.asiasource.org/news/at_mp_02.cfm?newsid=27391 Template:Webarchive.
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ "Una tradición que se afirma en la Ciudad", El Día, Sunday, January 9, 2010.
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Nakao, Annie, "Japanese Americans keeping Obon tradition alive", San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, July 8, 2005
  22. ↑ Schulze, Margaret, "Obon Story: Honoring ancestors, connecting to our community" Template:Webarchive, in the NikkeiWest newspaper, San Jose, California, Vol. 10, No. 14, July 25, 2002
  23. ↑ "Obon Basics" – San Jose Taiko, California Template:Webarchive
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Bon Dance Overseas – Hawaii (in ten web pages) Template:Webarchive (in Japanese)
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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