Obon Festival in Tokyo

Last weekend, we went to our very first Obon Festival out in Tokyo. An Obon Festival is a yearly Japanese tradition to honor loved ones that have passed away. The festival we went to was at Hibiya Park, which is one of the largest Bon Odori (Obon dances) in Tokyo with about 40,000 participants every year. There was a stage with Taiko drummers at the front of the park that overlooked a circular fountain where people constantly danced around the entire evening. Bern and I had fun learning all the different Obon dances

 

There were also plenty of food options to snack on in-between dances; but our favorite were the thick pieces of grilled bacon on a stick

 

 

And no festival here in Japan is complete without sake...they had a huge barrel of it and were selling a full 9oz cup for only 100 Yen ($1). Needless to say but for that price, we had our share of sake that night! To our surprise, one of Bern's co-workers, Michael, was actually at the festival too so we all hung out together and had a blast.

 

 

 

 

Being that the true meaning of this Japanese festival is to honor family members who had passed away, I couldn't help but think of my paternal grandparents the entire evening. This is one of my favorite pictures of them taken around the 1930's I believe.

 

        

Being here in Japan has really given me the opportunity to truly connect with the other side of my heritage in a way I can't fully explain...all I know is that Bern and I are eager to learn more about the Japanese culture during these next 3 years!