On Thursday night, August 3, I suddenly heard music and happy laughter coming from the gardens in front of the building where I work. Looking down from the balcony, I saw this group of people dancing in beautiful cloths, many of them international students in what seemed to be festive dresses from their home countries. It was “odori-obon” dancing, although also with modern music. Obon is in August, and the time that the spirits are believed to return to earth to visit their graves, and people return to where their families came from to be with the diseased who visit the family graves. The dancing people move in circles, usually around a platform, and all ages can join (see also my previous post). It is also the hottest time of year, and in the evening everybody is already happy that it is a bit cooler, and these evening temperatures are quite nice.
The dance was part of the “Summer Culture Festival 2023,” which was organized by Fujita Health University Center for International Relations (Fig. 2). At the festival, first, international students introduced their own cultures like traditional costumes and language, and Japanese staff and students performed Japanese traditional dance and Koto, a musical instrument. Then, they enjoyed several kinds of food from other countries, like from Thailand, Vietnam, India, and China. The bon-odori dance was the last event of the day. Seeing how happy everybody looked, the event was a big success.
