What is the Japanese Ghost Festival? The Japanese Ghost Festival is also called the Bon Festival.

What is the Japanese Ghost Festival? The Zhongyuan Festival is not only a traditional sacrificial festival in China, but also in Japan, where they usually call it the Yulan Festival. Next, let’s learn about Japan’s Ghost Festival.

What is the Japanese Ghost Festival?

1. Japan's Obon Festival is the most famous traditional folk festival in Japan. During the Ghost Festival, the whole country will have a holiday for about a week. At this time, people who are away from home will gather in their hometowns to reunite, sweep tombs together and offer sacrifices to their ancestors.
2. It is said that the souls of ancestors usually return to the human world on July 13 and go back to heaven on July 16, so people often worship their ancestors on these four days. It is a combination of a ritual to save those who are suffering in hell by offering them the merits of others, and ancestor worship to express gratitude to the ancestors for their care and nurturing.
3. The status of Obon Festival in Japan is equivalent to China's Qingming Festival and Spring Festival, because people in the city return to the countryside, which is called "the great migration of the nation". At this time, big cities such as Tokyo seem deserted for a period of time.

The History and Development of the Japanese Ghost Festival

1. Japan's Obon Festival has a long history. According to the Nihon Shoki, Empress Suiko (in 606 AD) started activities similar to the Obon Festival. By the Heian period, the Obon Festival in the Japanese Imperial Palace had become a grand event.
2. The Obon Festival at that time was to worship the souls of ancestors, which is basically equivalent to the current Obon Festival. It was very popular among samurai and nobles, and it was not until the Edo period that it became popular among the general public.
3. Later, because Japan adopted the new calendar during the Meiji Restoration, many traditional Japanese festivals became based on the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, some regions also use July 15 of the Gregorian calendar as the standard to celebrate the Obon Festival.
4. Although the time points vary from place to place, generally speaking, Japan's traditional Obon Festival is from August 13th to around 16th.