Topic: Ghosts, Ancestors, and Remembrance
How does Japan mark Ghosts, Ancestors, and Remembrance?
お盆
- Local date
- August 13, 2027–August 16, 2027
- When is it?
- In most regions, August 13 to August 16; local dates may vary
Obon is a time to welcome and see off ancestors. Returning home, tending graves, and local Bon odori are connected in some places, while dates and customs differ across Japan. Obon is not a statutory holiday, yet it is the year's most visible national pause: most firms set their own closure in mid-August, so the homeward traffic and the fares have a fixed peak. The welcome fire and the send-off fire at the door frame the whole thing as a round trip — a fire to bring them back, another a few days later to see them off, with the Bon dance filling the days in between.
節分
- Local date
- February 3, 2027
- When is it?
- Around the day before Risshun (the first day of spring); the date varies slightly each year
Setsubun in Japan falls on the day before the start of spring, and the date shifts slightly year to year. The National Diet Library's feature notes that its source is the Chinese exorcism rite tsuina, which entered Japan and became a Heian-period court event; originally a figure called the hososhi drove out invisible plague demons, but by the late Heian the hososhi himself came to be seen as the demon and was driven out by the courtiers. What survives today is the bean throwing and the call of 'demons out, fortune in' — the roles were swapped long ago.
What is this topic?
This guide looks at Ghosts, Ancestors, and Remembrance through dates, relationships, and local differences. It does not assume that every household or community follows the same practice.
Sources and dates
Dates follow local time zones, calendars, and official notices. Check the source when a date is estimated or locally variable.