The Buddhist festival of Obon is often named The Feast of Lanterns. According to tradition, this is the time of year when the souls of the dead return to the living world and visit their relatives.

Special offerings of food are made at temples and house altars, and at sunset lanterns are lit and hung in front of houses to guide the spirits home to their family.

In the evening the Bon-Odori, or special Obon dance, can be seen in local temples or shrine precincts. The dance is to comfort the ancestral spirits. Many people wear a Yukata (summer kimono) for this dance, which differ in styles from region to region.

The festival ends with the beautiful Toro-Nagashi (lantern-floating) ceremony. Colorful candle lit paper lanterns are floated down rivers or on the sea to guide the spirits safely back into their world.

After sunset on the 16th, five mountains around Kyoto are lit up with spectacular bonfires bidding farewell to the souls of ancestors. The bonfires have a variety of configurations, including kanji characters and a boat. The most spectacular is on Mount Daimonji—there, the bonfires spell out the shape of the kanji character pronounced "Dai" , which means "great."

In Hiroshima a Peace Festival is held each August 6th with events that coexist with the Obon Festivals. Lanterns float in the river representing the deaths from the American use of Atomic weapons.

On August 6, 1947 the first Peace Festival was held in an open area in Jisenji-no-hana, now called Peace Memorial Park. The festival took place around a wooden peace tower which was built for the occasion. After a silent prayer by the people present, the Peace Bell was rung. Then Mayor Hamai took the platform and read to the world the first Peace Declaration. Mayor Hamai expressed his convictions eloquently, speaking from his own experience as a hibakusha.

Hibakrusha translates literally from Japanese as "explosion-affected people." As of August 2011, there were 430,000 hibakusha certified by the Japanese government.

On the anniversaries of the bombings, lists of the names of hibakusha whose deaths have been recorded in the previous year are added to the cenothps in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As of August 2011, the death tolls are 275,230 (Hiroshima), and 155,546 (Nagasaki).

Today, from the paper cranes to the floating lanterns, this event, like modern day Japan, has morphed into a multifaceted festival with many different meanings.

For the original Buddhist definitions of Obon, click on the link below.

Shingon Buddhist International

City of Hiroshima

Hiroshima Peace Memorial

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