O bon, often called the Lantern festival, is a Buddhist festival
which takes place on 13, 14, and 15 August, in memory of ancestors, when
the spirits of the dead may return to visit their families. Slow dances
(bon odori) are performed by women by the light of lanterns. On
the last night of the brief sojourn of the dead with the living, the lanterns
are put into the water of a river or pond.
"Old fathers, great-grandfathers,
Rise as kindred should ..."
