Obon

Obon is a Japanese Buddhist observance honoring ancestral spirits. Families welcome and remember the dead through offerings, cemetery visits, and communal dances.

Ancestor veneration: Ritual practices that honor deceased family members and maintain relationships between generations. Obon gives ancestor veneration a major annual place in Japanese family and community life.
Bon Odori: Communal dances performed during Obon, often in a circle around a raised platform. These dances are Obon’s most visible public celebration in many communities.
Ullambana Sutra: A Mahayana Buddhist text describing offerings that relieve the suffering of deceased relatives. The sutra provides a Buddhist narrative associated with the origins of Obon.
Mukaebi: Fires lit in Japan to welcome ancestral spirits at the beginning of Obon. These welcoming flames mark the spirits’ symbolic arrival.
Japanese Buddhism: Buddhist traditions that developed in Japan through interaction with local religious practices and institutions. Obon’s rites draw on Buddhist understandings of the dead and merit.
Toro nagashi: A Japanese ceremony in which floating lanterns are set adrift on water. Some communities use lanterns at Obon’s close to symbolize spirits’ return.
Ullambana: A Buddhist ritual of making offerings to monks to aid suffering beings, especially deceased relatives. Obon is linked to the Japanese observance of this broader Buddhist rite.
Okuribi: Fires lit in Japan to guide ancestral spirits back at the end of Obon. These farewell fires mark the close of the observance.
Japanese folk religion: Local Japanese religious practices centered on kami, ancestors, spirits, and communal rites. Obon’s welcome-and-return customs also reflect Japanese traditions concerning ancestral spirits.
Japanese Buddhist altar: A household altar for Buddhist images, memorial tablets, and offerings to the dead. Families place offerings for ancestors at household altars during Obon.

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