Obon Festival

Summer is a great time for festivals of all kinds in Japan. This past week, Sapporo and other Japanese cities were celebrating Obon, which is a festival to honor the deceased. It's now evolved into a time when people go back to their ancestral family places to honor those who came before them. Every night during the week of obon, there is a dance called the bon odori, which consists of the dancers making very simple moves around a podium of singers and musicians. It's extremely repetitive, but we couldn't help but watch it. I eventually wanted to join in, and a lady in yukata, sensing my eagerness, came out of the dance to invite me and Ethan. Ethan wouldn't go, but I did, and it was awesome! I tried to get Ethan out there with me, even bribing him with money, but he would have none of it. We went back a couple days later, and I finally got him to go out with me, and Nate did too! It was a great experience and really made me feel like part of the community, and I think the dancers liked having us out there as well.

Nate took some video, check it out: