Three drummer boys at a Bon Odori festival, Malaysia
Bon Odori (meaning simply Bon dance) is an event held during Obon. It is celebrated as a reminder of the gratefulness one should feel toward one's ancestors. The O-Bon festival is observed all over Japan as well as parts of China, Malaysia, and American cities with a large enough Japanese population. Originally a Nenbutsu folk dance to express the effusive welcome toward the spirits of the dead, the style of celebration varies in some aspects from region to region. Prefectures often have their own ways of dancing the Bon Odori and their own music to go with it. A Bon Odori in Okayama prefecture will be completely different from one in Kanagawa prefecture. People line up around a high wooden building made especially for the festival called a 'yagura'. There are many kinds of music that go with the dance. The music varies from classical music to Japanese traditional music such as the Makkou Onndo to matsuri-themed pop music such as the Pokemon Ondo. The tradition is said to have started in the later years of the Muromachi period as a public entertainment. In the course of time, the original religious meaning has faded, and the dance has become associated with summer. To celebrate O-Bon in Okinawa, the eisa drum dance is performed instead.
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Photo credit: © Bare Essence Photography / Alamy / Afripics
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