Obon
Obon is a buddist ritual to welcome the ancestral spirits to the home altars and console their spirits. It is formally called Urabon or Ullambana in Sanskrit. This ritual used to be observed around July 15th on the old lunar calendar. Today, in some areas, it is observed on July 16th , while it is observed on August 16th in other areas. In either case, the ancestral spirits are welcomed on the 13th and are sent off on the 16th . Various rights and performances were carried out during the Obon period in the past. Visiting the family cemeteries appears to be the biggest event in modern times. Possibly, people in the Edo Period (1603-1867) concluded that this human world deserves a vacation, if the spiritual world is on vacation. The Obon time has become a time for vacation since this era. On July 16th in the old lunar calendar, live in employees were allowed to go home. This custom is called Yabuiri. A Yabuiri vacation was given during the new year as well. Thus, there are two vacation times for the live in employees each year. Even today, the majority of the companies given their employees several days off during Obon. The roads and other means of transportation are awfully jammed with people returning home during this time. During the Obon period, summer festival are held at each place in japan. Then almost all people dance Bon dance. A bon dance was originally performed to console deceased spirits. Now, it is performed as a leisurely summer event for common people. A scaffold is built in a school ground or open space, and people dance to the music of flutes and the rhythm of drums. Many people dress in yukata, casual type of kimono. Stalls are also open at the dance site. The scale of the dance varies from a neighborhood dance to the level of a tourists attraction that draws thousands of people. At specific area, people do Lantern Floating. As a means to send off the ancestral spirits that visited the offspring during the Obon period, small lanterns with lit candles and the items of offerings are floated on rivers and seas. This sacred Buddhist tradition is called Shoro Nagashi. It is spiritually a purifying experience to look at small lights floating on a river in the dusk. It is also impressive to see people sending off the lanterns by putting their palms together in gassho(the gesture of prayer). The Shoro Nagashi rituals in the city of Nagasaki and in Miyatsu, Kyoto Prefecture are well known. The Fire Ritual Forming Letters and Shapes,Daimonji Yaki is done at Kyoto. This have meaning that similar to Shoro Nagashi. Daimonji Yaki is an impressive ritual of fire conducted on the night of August 16th in Kyoto. On mountains, fires are lit in the shapes of letters and objects. It is believed that the fires, like the "bon" dance are used for sending off the ancestral spirits during Obon. However, another theory claims that it originally started as an ritual to control the epidemics in Kyoto during the Heian period(497-1185).
A spectacular fire forming the Chinese character for 'big' is built on the Higashiyama Nyoigatake Mountain. Fire are lit simultaneously from 75 points. The first stroke of the character is about 73 meters long, while the second and the third stroke are 46 and 124 meters long, respectively. This gigantic letter can be seen from any location in the city. Other shapes revealed on the same night include Hidari Daimonji(a Chinese character), Myoho(a Chinese character), Funa gata(object), and Torii gata(object). The colors of the burning fires are vivid in the dark. During the Obon period, Japanese people do several event which to welcome or send their ancestral spirits. Even now, worship of spirit or invisible things in a basis of Japanese life.
Ryouhe
Last updated 6-Dec-2001