Obon

Culture of origin: Buddhist · Cultural

Holiday sources: Buddhism

Obon joins the old Japanese belief in ancestral spirits with a Buddhist custom from the story of Maudgalyayana (Mokuren), the Buddha's disciple, who saw his dead mother suffering among the hungry ghosts and freed her by making offerings to the monks at the end of their retreat; the name comes from the Chinese Yulanpen, Ullambana. Traditionally on the 15th of the seventh lunar month, it is now held over about three days around 15 August in most of Japan, and around 15 July in Tokyo. Families return to their home towns, clean the graves and tend the household altar; a fire guides the souls home on the first evening, Bon dances are held, and lanterns floated down rivers and a "sending fire" see the souls off.