You can learn how to do Bon Odori (The Bon Dance) at this friendship lounge. Oh, it’s already over…sorry I was too late in posting about it. As many of you know, Bon Odori is the custom where you dress up in a yukata and dance around in a circle. As the poster describes, Obon お盆 is the period in summer where “the spirits of our departed ancestors return for a visit.” Obon is recognized as a buddhist tradition. Although in Chinese cultures it’s not seen as such a nice thing. When I was a little kid, the obon period was descibed to me as the time when the gates of hell are open and all the evil spirits are let loose with a one week free pass giving them a chance to reclaim their souls by possessing someone in the earthly plane. So I had to be careful during that week. Enough to scare the crap out of a 7 yr old. But anyways, Bon Odori is kinda fun. Especially watching the little kids doing it.
Yeah, Obon seems more festive than the Hungry Ghosts Festival.
Seems like a lot of our traditional ethnic holidays always seem to worship and pine about death.
Depressing but could explain a LOT of Chinese history, especially the more recent kind.