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In the traditional Japanese calendar, August is referred to as Hazuki 葉月, the month of falling leaves. It is a time when leaves change color and begin to fall, harbingers of the onset of autumn.
August is one of the busiest months for travel in Japan, as many people return home to honor their ancestors during Obon お盆. Celebrated for more than 500 years, Obon is tied to the ancient lunar calendar, and occurs each year in the beginning of August. During Obon, it is believed that the spirits return from the afterlife to this world to visit the living. Businesses close for the week as people return to their hometowns where incense is lit at their family altars and grave sites, creating the largest demand for incense all year.
Special preparations are taken for the arrival of the ancestors such as cleaning the house, altar, and grave site. The Buddhist "five offerings" of incense for purification, flowers representing impermanence, candles for guidance, water for thirst, and food for nourishment are prepared. Bon Odori盆踊り, the traditional "Bon Dance" is performed to welcome the spirits of the deceased. A folk tradition performed for over 600 years, Bon Odori is specific to each region, with different styles and music depending upon where the dance is performed.
Also known as the Lantern Festival, chōchin 提灯, traditional lanterns made from bamboo and washi paper, are taken to grave sites on the first day of Obon to call the ancestors home. On the final day of Obon, families again use chōcin to guide their ancestors back to the afterlife. In a modern tradition, floating lanterns known as tōrō nagashi 灯籠流し are set afloat in rivers that run to the sea, honoring the ancestors while also symbolically returning their spirit to heaven.
