If you are in Japan in August, most likely you will stumble upon a festival in the evening time.  Obon – Japan’s Festival of the Dead, was officially from August 13th to 16th in 2018 but can vary by region.  It is a series of events that enshrines the spirits of the ancestors.   One of those ancient events that interest me as so many cultures around the world have matching things.

Every year, my work place of roughly 2000 Japanese nationals and a couple hundred American’s invite their friends and families for a celebration.  I noticed while I was talking with some of my Japanese coworkers that some paperwork they had very much did NOT say “Obon” or ” お盆” and we started discussing.  I’ve only missed one year in the past five, colloquially, the American’s call it “bon”.  What was this 納涼大会??? And this is why I love learning about different cultures and languages.  Let me set the scene…

Summer Festival: A quick Japanese lesson

Let’s break down my work’s yearly events actual name:

納涼, noryo,  summer night or literally escaping the summer heat.  The way my coworker’s explained it (and this took some work as conveying things that don’t translate quite right is a game we like to play, both from English and from Japanese), in days of old a rich man that has the money to go, would leave the city and relax in the mountains where it was cooler. Those with no money or time to escape, still obviously wanted in on the deal.  So they have cold drinks, etc. to feel cool and relax during the summer evenings.

大会 – taikai, convention or big meeting.  That ones pretty straight forward.

So the event is actually “the big summer night meeting to escape from the heat”.

Now, let’s talk about Obon – Japan’s festival of the dead.

Or bon-odori as sometimes we American’s also call this event at work.

お盆 is shortened from the Chinese 盂蘭盆會うらぼんえ（會 is the complicated version of 会 and means conference, the native Japanese speakers say you rarely see that kanji anymore) and originates with a disciple of Buddha trying to retrieve his mother who had after dying fallen into the realm of Preta which is the Sanskrit name for a supernatural being in lots of folk religions that means they are going through a huge amount of suffering.  Making offerings to monks during their summer retreats, he was able to free his mother and danced for joy.  That’s how we got bon odori, or bon dance, 盆踊り, festival of the dead dancing, and how this all happens to take place during the month of August.

盆, bon, itself means “tray”.  (See what I mean about not being directly translatable??). Add an “お” on the front of it and it’s the honorific version.  It’s shortening down from “lantern festival” and that’s why you’ll see many lanterns during obon events as well as some of them are merely lantern events like this one I mentioned in Asakusa.

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Things happening this weekend in Tokyo: There’s so many festivals in Japan. This is one of the prettiest. Every August in Asakusa on Sumida River (head towards the Asahi building), people put their wishes on a paper lantern and send them down the river. You can see it from both sides of the river. Highly recommend. I’ll be up north or I’d be headed there myself!! .

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Buddhist tradition has families visit ancestral homes and clean the graves.  And make offerings…. on trays.  See? Everything comes full circle.  Belief is that spirits revisit the alter, very similar to the day of the dead in Mexican tradition and I’m sure other places around the world I don’t know about yet.

All summer festivals are 納涼大会 but not all summer festivals are Obon.

See, this is what I love about learning a language. You understand subtle cultural nuances that you wouldn’t without the understanding of what’s behind them.

So, what’s the event at work?

You may be asking.  It’s the largest by far of the four we have every year (summer festival, employee recognition, Christmas, and New Years), and it’s basically a big block party, like a bon festival you may see.  There are food booths, drinks, music, games for the kids.  And this… the bon dance.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frZPZbNQH_8[/embedyt]

Now, try and get that song out of your head ;).  Very much like Yosakoi has a song that must be used in competition, this is the bon song and you won’t go to a festival without hearing it.  You’ll also find it being played on the shopping street PA systems during the summer.

It’s also an excuse for me to wear my yukata as I can’t put it on without help.  Pretty common issue in general, so I take advantage of it.

The lanterns may be one of my favorite parts.

Everyone forms a large circle around the stage for, lack of a better term, the circle dances that occur.  They are traditional steps passed on for years that are not too hard to pick up but my work offers classes during lunch leading up to the summer festival.

What’s your experience with summer festivals? My favorite will always be Yosakoi!

Kawagoe’s Hikawa Shrine has a 1500 year history but the wind chime festival just started in 2014.  Grab a friend and head up to Kawagoe for a day.  But, ladies.  Best to leave off the fact that this shrine is for the god of marriage when visiting with a casual male friend.  The nice chiming of the fuurin (wind chime) during summertime is something magical to behold. Put Hikawa Shrines Wind Chime Festival (川越氷川縁むすび風鈴) on your list of must do’s for summer festivals in Japan.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7-242QZgVY[/embedyt]

About the Japanese word for Wind Chime

You may have heard that as a foreigner, to be careful when you pronounce the word for cute.  Kawaii (可愛い) has TWO “i” in it. And the pronunciation of vowels is very important.  If you aren’t careful, you can saw “kowai” which means scary.  In terms of mixups, this is generally the one people talk about.

However, fun fact, if you are going to a wind chime festival, especially this one, you need to be extra careful.  The word for wind chime in Japanese is fuurin (風鈴).  Long “u” sound.  Very important long “u” sound.  As if you noticed I said this is a marriage shrine, drop that second ‘u’ and you get the word for affair.

Offerings during the Wind Chime Festival

One of the ways to pray to the god of Shinto shrines is ema. Ema are small wooden plaques you can write your wishes on.  Leaving them at the shrine the gods will receive them.  They are like many other religious practices in which they will later be burned.

Instead of normal ema, during the wind chime festival they are more like wood paper and hung from the chimes. I find this very special as it’s like every time the wind blows, the god is considering your prayer.

Access and Schedule

Kawagoe is a quick jump from Tokyo.  To get to the shrine from the station is around a mile (it’s Japan, there’s a lot of walking) or you can take the circle bus that services the historical area, which you should also check out while you’re there!  The Wind Chime Festival runs from July 9th to September 9th for 2018.  From 9 am to 9 pm, there is plenty of different lighting to take pictures.  This temple is pretty shaded so it has the added benefit of not being too hot!

Is this something that interests you?  What other festivals are you curious about?  Leave me a comment and I’ll check them out :).

Things to do nearby

There’s definitely a days worth of attractions to keep you busy in Kawagoe. Here are some of the highlights:

• 蔵造りの町並み, Kurazukari no machinami, the warehouse district. Keeping it’s Edo style roots there are lots of shops with souvenirs and food for you to try.
• 時の鐘, Toki no kane, Bell of time. This clock tower is considered one of the 100 Sound Sceneries of Japan. We have a thing with “100” this or that in Japan.
• Kawagoe Festival Museum. One of my favorite parts of big festival towns, if you can’t make the real deal, you can at least learn about it at the museum!
• Kawagoe Hon Maru Palace, one of the few remaining palaces of Japan.