The western Halloween traditions and decorations in Japan have become more and more popular in Japan. In this country, the holiday is known as O-bon festival. Some people celebrate it from July 13-15, others from August 13-15.O-bon comes from the Sankrit word for “to hang upside down. The legend says that a Buddhist monk, when was deep in meditation was able to see his dead mother hanging upside down in the hell. She was punished. That was because she had eaten meat and had refused to regret. But eating meat for the Buddhist is forbidden. The monk could go to the hell and buy his mothers way to the Nirvana with his excess goodness.
On the first day of this holiday people in Japan, decorate the graves of their relatives with fruits, lanterns and cakes. On the second day the spirit altars are assembled at home, prepare vegetarian dishes and curve cucumbers in a horse shape to represent the dead spirits coming back on horses. Usually on the third day, the whole community gathers. They organize hypnotic, slow dance known as bon-odori. The people dance in concentric circles. Very often hundreds of people gather. When the evening comes, the people lit paper lanterns and adrift them on the river so the spirits can go back to the other shore of the river. These paper lanterns are called omiyage. In O-bone, people do not wear costumes. They prefer their traditional Japanese summer kimono called yukata and go to bon dances. Among the young people get more popular with the time to wear the typical Halloween costumes in the big cities. For costume play, they use the word kosupure.
In the autumn, the Buddhist Japanese people celebrate festival called Higan. They go to the graves of their friends and relatives. Usually they tiny up the area around and think about the people who had passed away.