O-bon - Japan's Halloween?

Japan does not celebrate a western-style Halloween. While most people here know a little about Halloween in the United States, with the costumes, parties, and trick-or-treating; and even though some Halloweenish toys and trinkets are sold in the import shops, very few know exactly when or how it's celebrated.

However, Japan has o-bon. (It's easy to say and remember: just say "oh bone.") Maybe some will disagree, but even though o-bon is celebrated at a different time and in a different way, to me it is Japan's Halloween.

Along with New Year's and "Golden Week" (early May), o-bon is one of Japan's major holiday seasons when everyone is trying to get together with family. It comes at the hottest time of the year, commonly celebrated from August 13th to the 15th. Put simply, o-bon is a buddhist festival where ancestors' spirits are invited back home to spend some time with the family.

Traditionally, in rural areas where gravesites are in the neighborhood, the pathway from the graves to the home is swept clean, and a general house-cleaning is also done. Then, on the 13th, an altar is set up with various food offerings, and "welcoming fires" are set in front of the house and along the path to guide and welcome the spirits. People may even hire a priest to come and chant prayers. On the evening of the 15th "send-off fires" are lit, and the spirits return to their graves. People who spend o-bon away from their ancestral homes or live in the city usually just make a little token fire on their veranda or patio.

That's the serious, religious side of o-bon. There's a fun side, too. Depending on the region, festivals, food booths, and bon dances can be found in the evening, with lots and lots of people enjoying themselves. Even those who don't observe the religious rite outlined above participate in the festivals. You used to see many people wearing a yukata, a lightweight cotton kimono, but these days you usually only see a few girls wearing them.

If you ever have the chance to participate in o-bon festivities in the countryside, please do. That's where they're best. There may not be any strange costumes or trick-or-treating, and, interestingly, there is no "scariness" attached to the o-bon season at all, but it really is the spirit of Halloween in Japan.

© 1999 - 2008 Tim R. Matheson