Bon (festival)

The Japanese word obon is composed of the honorific prefix o- and the word bon. The bon portion is from the longer Japanese names Urabon (盂蘭盆) or Urabon'e (盂蘭盆会), in turn from the Chinese terms 盂蘭盆 (Yúlánpén) or 盂蘭盆會 (Yúlánpénhuì).

The Chinese terms are often described as deriving from Sanskrit ullambana meaning "hanging upside down", in reference to souls suffering in hell.[8] However, the Sanskrit word was sparsely, if at all, attested;[9] in addition, it would be the present participle of verb Sanskrit ullamb ("to hang", intransitive), with no inherent "upside-down" meaning.[10][11]

Moreover, neither the purported meaning of "hanging upside-down" nor the verifiable meaning of "hanging" match the semantics very well, given that the urabon ceremonies are about helping the dead, closer in meaning to the "helping" sense of the Pali verb ullumpana ("raising, helping"), present participle of ullumpati ("to raise up, to help").[12] This suggests that explanations of the dead hanging upside-down in hell are more likely to be folk etymologies based on a mistaken connection to the Sanskrit verb, rather than a more direct semantic link to the Pali. Alternatively, Takakusu Junjiro[9] propounded that the origin was in fact Pali ullumbana, a colloquial corruption of the Pali ullumpana ("raising up; saving; helping"), and that the etymology was mistakenly attributed to Sanskrit.

Pitri Paksha (literally "fortnight of the ancestors") is a 16–lunar day period in Hindu calendar when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors (Pitrs), especially through food offerings. Pitri Paksha is considered by Hindus to be inauspicious, given the death rite known as Śrāddha or Tarpana performed during the ceremony.

The Korean version of the Bon celebration is known as Baekjung. Participants present offerings at Buddhist shrines and temples, and masked dances are performed. It is as much an agricultural festival as a religious one.[14][15]

In the Philippines, Filipinos of Japanese descent, with support from the Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai Inc., Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School, Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku, and various other Japanese Filipino-based organizations, hold an Obon festival every year along with other Japanese-based Filipino festivals, to celebrate the ancestors of Filipinos of Japanese descent, and to celebrate the friendship between Japan and the Philippines.[16][17]

In Argentina, the Bon Festival is celebrated by Japanese communities during the summer of the southern hemisphere. The biggest festival is held in Colonia Urquiza, in La Plata. It takes place on the sports ground of the La Plata Japanese School. The festival also includes taiko shows and typical dances.[18]

Bon Festival is celebrated every year in many Japanese communities all over Brazil, as Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside Japan. São Paulo is the main city of the Japanese community in Brazil, and also features the major festival in Brazil, with street odori dancing and matsuri dance. It also features taiko and shamisen contests. The festival also features a variety of Japanese food and drink, art and dance. Bon is also celebrated in communities of Japanese immigrants and their descendants and friends throughout South America: Bon festivals can be found in the states of Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Goiás, Amazonas, Pará (Tomé-Açu), Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pernambuco, Bahia, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Brasília.[19]

In Malaysia, Bon Festival is also celebrated every year in Esplanade, Penang, Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam, Selangor, and also Universiti Malaysia Sabah at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. This celebration, which is a major attraction for the state of Selangor, is the brainchild of the Japanese Expatriate & Immigrant's Society in Malaysia. In comparison to the celebrations in Japan, the festival is celebrated on a much smaller scale in Penang, Selangor and Sabah, and is less associated with Buddhism and more with Japanese culture. Held mainly to expose locals to a part of Japanese culture, the festival provides the experience of a variety of Japanese food and drinks, art and dance, with the vast number of Japanese companies in Malaysia taking part to promote their products.

Bon festivals are also celebrated in North America, particularly by Japanese-Americans or Japanese-Canadians affiliated with Buddhist temples and organizations. Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) temples in the U.S. typically celebrate Bon Festival with both religious Obon observances and traditional Bon Odori dancing around a yagura. Many temples also concurrently hold a cultural and food bazaar providing a variety of cuisine and art, also to display features of Japanese culture and Japanese-American history.[20] Performances of taiko by both amateur and professional groups have recently become a popular feature of Bon Odori festivals.[21][22] Bon festivals are usually scheduled anytime between July and September.

Bon Odori melodies are also similar to those in Japan; for example, the dance Tankō Bushi from Kyushu is also performed in the U.S. In California, due to the diffusion of Japanese immigration, Bon Odori dances also differ from Northern to Southern California, and some are influenced by American culture, such as "Baseball Ondo".

Bon Dance in Ke'ei, Hawaii, under the monkey pod tree of the Buddhist mission.

The "Bon season" is an important part of the present-day culture and life of Hawaii. It was brought there by the plantation workers from Japan, and now the Bon dance events are held among the five major islands (Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii) on weekend evenings from June to August. They are held usually at Buddhist missions, but sometimes at Shintoist missions or at shopping centres.[23][24] At some Buddhist missions, the dance is preceded by a simple ritual where the families of the deceased in the past year burn incense for remembrance, but otherwise the event is non-religious. The songs played differ among the regions - one or two hour Bon dance in the Western part of the Big Island (in and around Kailua Kona), for example, typically starts with Tankō Bushi, continues with songs such as Kawachi Otoko Bushi (using wooden clappers), Yukata Odori (using tenugui given at the donation desk), Asatoya Yunta and Ashibina from Okinawa Prefecture (reflecting the fact that many Okinawan descendants live in Hawaii), Pokémon Ondo for children, zumba songs for the young, Beautiful Sunday, etc., and ends with Fukushima Ondo, celebrating abundant harvest.[25] The participants, Japanese descendants and the people of all races, dance in a big circle around the yagura, the central tower set up for the dance, from which recorded songs are broadcast and, most of the time, the taiko group accompany the songs playing drums. In larger cities, Bon dance lessons are given by volunteers before the actual events.[26]

Some Japanese museums may also hold Obon festivals, such as the Morikami Museum[27] in Florida.

In St. Louis, Missouri, the Botanical Garden has hosted a Bon festival over Labor Day weekend every year since 1977. Known as the Japanese festival, it is a collaboration with several Japanese-American organizations, and hosts thousands of people over a three-day period. The festival provides authentic Japanese music, art, dance, food, and entertainment including dancing around a yagura, sumo wrestling, taiko drums, bonsai demonstrations, music played on traditional instruments, several bazaars, food courts with authentic Japanese foods, tea ceremonies, candlelit lanterns released on the lake in the gardens Japanese garden and much more.[28]