page_title: Bon Festival
section_title: Origin
hierarchical_section_title: Bon Festival / Origin
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 京都、五山送り火大文字。2005年8月16日、船岡山公園（京都市北区）で投稿者撮影。 English: Gozan-no-okuribi Daimonji (Letter 大) Kyoto, Japan. Photo taken at Funaokayama Park, Kita-ward, Kyoto. Português: Letra Dai (大) no Gozan no Okuribi em Quioto, Japão. Foto tirada no Parque Funaokayama, bairro de Kita, Quioto.
context_page_description: Obon or just Bon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian 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 Bon Odori.
  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. Shichigatsu Bon is based on the solar calendar and is celebrated around the 15th of July in eastern Japan, coinciding with Chūgen. Hachigatsu Bon, based on the lunar calendar, is celebrated around the 15th of August and is the most commonly celebrated time. Kyū Bon is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and so differs each year, which appears between August 8 and September 7.
context_section_description: The Japanese Bon Festival originated from the Ghost Festival of China, which is itself a combination of the Buddhist Ullambana (Sanskrit: उल्लम्बन, romanized: ullambana) and Taoist Zhongyuan (Chinese: 中元). The word obon is a shortened form of Ullambana (Japanese: 于蘭盆會 or 盂蘭盆會, urabon'e), a Sanskrit meaning "hanging upside down", which implies great suffering. The people who take part in this festival believe they should ameliorate the suffering of the Urabanna.
  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. 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 Bon Odori or "Bon Dance", a time during which ancestors and their sacrifices are remembered and appreciated. See also: Ullambana Sutra.
  As Obon occurs in the heat of the summer, participants traditionally wear yukata, a kind of light cotton kimono. Many Obon celebrations include a huge carnival with rides, games, and summer festival foods.
  During the festival, families traditionally sent their ancestors' spirits back to their permanent dwelling place under the guidance of fire in a ritual known as Okuribi (”sending fire”). Fire also marks the commencement (Mukaebi) as well as the closing of the festival.
caption: Kyoto's Gozan no Okuribi bonfire lit during the Obon festival
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