Japanese Bon Festival content: what to do and how to celebrate

Contents of Obon Festival in Japan

This festival usually falls around August 13th to August 16th every year. It is a long-awaited consecutive holiday. Many companies will have holidays, and people Take this opportunity to return to your hometown to participate in grand ceremonies, such as worshiping ancestors, reuniting with relatives, and also traveling. There will be a variety of shops selling various places, which is the peak season for tourism.

Mainly do

2. Welcome the fire and send the fire: Before welcoming the ancestors, you will visit the graves, then use the soul fire to bring them back, and then use the soul fire four days later. Farewell to ancestors.

3. Eating vegetarian food: Usually, seasonal vegetables and grains are prepared, two soups and five dishes, which means practicing to purify the body and mind, and is also called Shojin cuisine.

How to celebrate

1. Daimonji-yaki: In the Kyoto area, there will be several designated locations, where wood is used to form a large character on the mountain, and then it is lit and burned. It will burn for about 30 minutes and can be seen by residents in the city. The scale is quite large.

2. Bon dance: At a certain moment, Taiko drums will be played in the middle of the crowd. With the sound of the drums, people dance one after another, celebrating the festival and sending their ancestors back with their full hearts. Full of blessings.

3. Go to the food court: On the day of the festival, there will be many food stalls. Everyone will take advantage of the summer vacation to go shopping, and there are also entertainment projects such as fishing for goldfish, which are very popular with children.