Background
The Japanese Obon Festival is a Buddhist holiday and after New Year's Day on 1January the second most important holiday in Japan. The festival is in honour of the ancestors and in commemoration of the departed. According to Buddhist belief their spirits return once a year from the beyond to visit the living. During this time everybody's thoughts should turn to the deceased.
 

Obon has its origins in the Buddhist myths about Mokuren's life, a monk and Buddha's pupil. Due to his psychic abilities Mokuren found out that his deceased mother was in hell and tormented with hunger as a punishment for her former sins. He asked Buddha for advice how to save his mother.

Buddha instructed him to make offerings to the many Buddhist monks who had just completed their summer retreat, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Mokuren followed Buddha's advice and saved his mother from torment and hell which caused her rebirth. Mokuren was so happy that he danced joyfully waving his hands in the air. (Bon Odori: Bon-Tanz).

Over the years Obon developed into the Japanese Festival of the Ancestors. All family members of all generations come together and celebrate commemorating the deceased and ancestors.
 

Dates
Obon celebrations take place in July or in August according to different districts. The exact dates are:
13-16 July: Tokyo, district of Kanton, Shizuoka, Nagoya
13-16 August: all other Japanese districts

What's the reason for different dates?
Before the year 1873 (Meiji-time) and the introduction of the Western calendar, the lunar calendar determined the 15 July for Obon celebrations in the entire country (which according to the European calendar is the month of August).

The festival normally started already on 13 July and ended 16 July. With the introduction of the new calendar however there were suddenly two different dates. In Eastern Japan e.g. in the district of Tokyo, Shizuoka and Nagoy Obon took place in July but everywhere else in Japan in August according to tradition. The 15th of July in the lunar calendar doesn't correspond with the day of the 15th of August. To simplify things the Japanese transferred the 15 July of the ancient calendar to the 15 August of the new calendar.
 

How do the Japanese celebrate Obon?
Obon is not a public holiday but a normal working day. The date however coincides with the Japanese school summer holidays each year between 14 July and 31 August. Many families take a few days' vacation and return to their hometown. Obon is an important occasion to visit the relatives still living there.

Obon takes place on the 15th of July or 15th of August but all preparations must be finished before the 13th of July which includes the cleaning of the ancestors' burial ground and the set up of the home altars. Ceremonies and preparations vary according to location. On the eve of the 13th the entire family visits the gravesites of the ancestors where they light a candle to welcome the spirits from the beyond. With the burning candle all family members accompany the ancestors on their way from the grave to home. It's important that the candle is lit during the entire journey. Otherwise the ancestors might not find their way in the dark and get lost. The candle is placed in a lantern to protect it from any breeze. In case of a long way home several candles are provided. A big white lantern hung high over the house door or gate is another signpost for the spirits. Dried stalks of reed are burnt in a bowl to welcome them.

The candle is placed on the home altar where the spirits will stay during the celebrations and where the family commemorates the deceased during the rest of the year. The candle should burn continuously until the 16th but because of the fire hazard it's extinguished during the night and lit again for the morning prayers. The livings provide the spirits during their stay with fruit, vegetables and rice wine on the altar. As Obon is a Buddhist festival some families set up a special Buddhist home altar next to their usual Shinto home altar in another corner of the house. Religions coexist in Japan quite harmoniously. Custom requires that the home altar is decorated with cucumbers and egg plants with thin bamboo sticks attached so that they resemble animals (???, Sho-ryo-uma) see picture. Cucumbers symbolize horses which quickly carry the spirits home. Egg plants stand for oxen which slowly accompany them back to the beyond.

Bon Odori
Obon culminates on the 15th July. People wear light summer kimonos (yukata). Folk dances take place in all cities and villages. People dance in a circle in town squares or form a line in the streets. The time of the dance is announced well in advance - normally they start at nightfall at around 7.30 or 8 pm and last one or two hours during which the square or street is closed for traffic. While dancing people celebrate together the return of the spirits.

Toro Nagashi (the floating of lanterns)
The celebrations end on the 16th July when people place their offerings into lampions and put them in the river. The offerings and the candle is arranged in a lampion which then gently drifts away.

According to custom this Bon Fire illuminates the journey of the spirits back to the beyond. The provisions make sure that they don't have to travel hungry. For environmental reasons it's now forbidden to put food into the lampions. Paper lanterns instead become very popular.

Many towns light huge fires - the most famous is called 5 Daimonji-Bon-Fire (Gozan-Okuribi) in Kyoto, especially the fire in the sign of dai (big) at the foot of the mountain Nyoigadake in Higashiyama, see also picture. Fireworks are the finale of the celebrations.

Apart from Obon there are numerous other traditional celebrations in the month of August in Japan.

September is the time of harvest and a festival might win the gods' favour for fruitful crops. Despite a highly developed economy and technology the Japanese society is still very rooted to the soil, traditional and in close touch with nature. Maintenance of a connection with the ancestors, veneration and passing on these traditions to the next generation is not only a result of the influence of Confucianism but also self-interest. People in the Far East like those in the Western world want to be remembered and not forgotten after death.
 

The significance of Obon in the business world - how to handle it?
Apart from New Year Obon is the most important celebration in Japan like Easter in Germany. It's an occasion to visit relatives and to bring gifts. The business world nowadays has also developed a tradition of exchanging presents. Employees give presents to superiors and customers to express their respect and gratitude. Obon is a perfect opportunity to maintain contacts and businesses exchange generous gifts.

Colleagues, friends and partners exchange summer greetings. Post a nice summer greetings cards to your Japanese partners. Chose a card with a light summery theme and a bright background e.g. flowers, a field of sun flowers, a swan or other typical European summer scenes. Begin with your personal message and end with the following greetings:

Shochuu ominmai, moshiagemasu!
(I apologize for the summer heat wave and would like to extend my sincere wishes for your good health)

It's a tradition to send best wishes for good health at Obon as summer in Japan can be extremely hot and therefore a time to fall ill.

You might ask what you have to apologize for when you just want to send greetings. This is due to the specific "Culture of apologies" in the Far East. It's a common habit to apologize daily and many times for all kind of things. Consider it as a polite common phrase.

This type of excuse has nothing to do with an apology for an actual mistake or because you feel guilty about something which is not the point at all. In the case above you express that you feel sorry for the other person because the weather is so hot. Of course a heat wave or heavy rain is not your fault.

The Japanese consider this as a friendly gesture showing that you care for the other's well -being. It creates positive vibrations and increases harmony and feelings of sympathy between business partners. Furthermore it shows that you are a responsible personality.

In case you have no time to post a card send a greeting mail. Serious and honest greetings are always welcome no matter in which form.

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