n Obon – Day of the Souls – Japan
NOTE: different cities and regions in Japan use different festival calendars, so only some regions celebrate Obon today.
During Obon Japanese Buddhists honor their ancestors in a variety of ways: they return to their ancestral homes, they clean the graves of their ancestors, and they float lit-up paper lanterns down rivers. There is a special Bon dance to show gratitude for the ancestors, and some people make offerings to them.
Of course, 
some enjoyment-of-the-living traditions have developed, too, including family get-togethers, special food, fireworks, and giant carnivals with rides.
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- For more info on this holiday, check this website out.
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- Here is a video of the Bon dance…
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- …And this tells a little bit more about the lantern-festival part of the holiday.
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- If you like Manga, you might want to check out this video Manga story.
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nCatch the Obon spirit.
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nLook at photos of your ancestors (grandparents, great-grandparents), and revive the old family stories of what they did and how they lived.
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nLearn about Japan.
Eat Japanese food.
Learn to draw Manga using this YouTube video or any video by Mark Crilley.
