Festivals & Holidays Brief History of Bon Festival July 15 (Lunar calendar), or August 15 (Solar calendar) is celebrated in Japan as Bon or Urabon, The Feast of Lanterns, especially by the Japanese Buddhists. It is said that during the year, on this day only, the iron pot in hell is opened for the deceased. Buddhist services are held at temples and private houses for ancestors, relatives and ...

What is Obon OBON is an abbreviation of urabon, the Japanese transliteration of the Sanskrit word Ullambana which literally means to hang upside down. This word implies the unbearable suffering that ones has to bear, whether spiritual or physical, when being hung upside down. The ritual of obon is conducted according to the teaching of Sakyamuni Buddha as preached by him in the Urabon Sutra.