Bon Odori: Everybody Dance Now!

It's a curious dichotomy, that a race often distinguished by an aversion to public attention will, once a year, happily dance around in the streets in front of complete strangers.  Such is the nature of the Japanese Obon.

While the Buddhist custom of Obon has a long and formally defined history and significance in Japan, for Japanese Americans it is generally taken as an opportunity to celebrate and honor family members or friends who have passed on.  Obons are held at different locations--usually Buddhist Temples or Japanese Community Centers--during the summer weekends, when the spirits of the dead presumably come back to visit and enjoy the party.

(The emphasis on dead people is mostly dropped when the Obon is not at a Temple, and instead the whole thing is largely treated as a cultural festival.)

Although there are usually a plethora of food and carnival game booths at any festival, the highlight is typically the street dancing.  While I have no idea how the dances for each year are chosen (I have a vague idea of a secret cabal of ancient Japanese elders who meet and pick them out,) it's clear that there are some that are common to all the community Obons, and some that are specific just for that one location and year.  The first and last dance is generally the eponymous Bon Odori.

Other aspects of the cultural festival nature are various displays of Japanese arts and crafts.  In past years, these seem to have been whittled down to small displays of ikebana and bonsai.

Food is, of course, a big part of the festivals, and typically various groups will man booths as part of their yearly fund-raisers.  Consequently, you may have the Bingo Club grilling teriyaki chicken, or the Judo Team shaving sno-cones and frying won tons.  Other typical eats would include curry rice, udon, beef teriyaki, and sushi (but you better get there early because the sushi inevitably sells out.)

Back to the dancing, props are occasionally used for specific dances--"uchiwa," or round fans, "tenugui," or long cotton towels, and "kachi-kachi," or small wooden...clacking things.  The music is usually a recording that sounds like someone made a cassette tape of a scratchy LP about 80 years ago, accompanied by a live taiko drummer up in a square raised platform called a "yagura."  

Recently there's been a movement to use more modern songs in English (the Beach Boys' Kokomo for Heaven's Sakes!)...but that seems awfully unauthentic.  People are always welcome to join in from the onlookers, but in an effort to stave off total embarrassment, most dancers attend practices held a couple times a week for a month or so before the festival.  

Interested in attending an Obon near you?  http://www.japanese-city.com/calendar/events/ is a website with pretty extensive listings.