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Families decorate homes with lanterns to guide the spirits, and the community celebrates with Bon Odori, a circle dance around a yagura drum tower. The festival also includes travel to hometowns for grave cleaning and shared meals. On the final night, toro nagashi floats glowing lanterns down rivers and toward the sea.",{"@graph":69,"@context":126},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":45,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/obon-japans-festival-of-ancestors-reading/486971/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/obon-japans-festival-of-ancestors-reading/486971.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"acoobca","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-10","2026-09-30",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118,122],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is Obon, according to the article?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Obon is a festival when families believe their ancestors’ spirits come home to visit for a few summer nights.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What is Bon Odori, and what does it involve?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Bon Odori is the name of the Obon dance. People circle around a yagura, following simple repeated steps so visitors can join in.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What happens during toro nagashi?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Families gently float glowing paper lanterns down rivers and out to sea to guide the spirits back to their world.",{"name":123,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":124},"Why does the article say Obon is a busy travel time?",{"text":125,"@type":113},"Many people travel to their hometowns to clean graves and share meals, so trains and highways fill up.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":128,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":130,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":132,"site_id":62},486971,1790901361,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":135},{"doc_id":132,"user_id":136,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":137,"doc_module":4,"category_id":44,"category_name":45,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":138,"file_id":139,"file_url":140,"file_type":141,"file_size":142,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":34,"language":143,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":144,"faqs":145,"seo_title":146,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":147,"read_time":148},3985747870733,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Picture a warm summer evening in Japan, when the sky turns deep purple and the air smells of grilled snacks from festival stalls. In a neighborhood park, drums begin to boom, and dozens of people in cotton robes called yukata form circles to dance beneath glowing paper lanterns. This is Obon, a festival when families believe the spirits of their ancestors come back home for a visit. Can you imagine grandparents from long, long ago dropping by for a few summer nights?  \nThose glowing lanterns do more than light up the dance floor. During Obon, families hang lanterns outside their homes to help the spirits of their ancestors find their way back. Obon is a Buddhist tradition, and people have marked it in Japan for hundreds of years, some say for more than 500. Long ago, families told a story about a monk who wanted to help his mother's spirit, and his happy dance of thanks became the reason people still dance today.  \nThat happy dance has a name: Bon Odori, which means the Obon dance. During the festival, towns set up a tall wooden tower called a yagura in the middle of a park, and a drummer climbs up to keep the beat. Everyone circles around it, following the same simple steps over and over, so even a visitor who has never tried it can join right in. Different regions of Japan have their own tunes and moves, so the dance in one town can look quite different from the dance in another.  \nWhen the dancing is done, families still have important visits to make. During Obon, many people travel across the country to their hometowns, cleaning the graves of relatives and sharing meals together, which makes it one of Japan's busiest travel times of the year. Because so many workers head home at once, trains and highways fill up much like they do around big American holidays. This shows a main idea of Obon: it is about family remembering family, not about being scary.  \nOn the final night, the lanterns get one last, beautiful job. In a custom called toro nagashi, families gently float glowing paper lanterns down rivers and out to sea to guide the spirits back to their world. Places in Mexico honor the dead each autumn during the Day of the Dead, and some Christians remember loved ones on All Souls' Day in November, but Obon is its own summer celebration with its own meaning. Here is the thought to carry with you: instead of scaring anyone, Obon turns remembering the people we miss into a night of light, music, and dancing.  \nObon: Japan's Festival of Ancestors  \nName:  \n\n| Solve each problem.\u003Cbr>Use the article to answer the question.\u003Cbr>1) What is Obon?\u003Cbr>A. A festival when families welcome the first snow of winter\u003Cbr>B. A festival when families believe ancestors' spirits come home to visit\u003Cbr>C. A festival when families honor a famous Japanese emperor\u003Cbr>D. A festival when families celebrate the rice harvest at noon\u003Cbr>2) Why can a first-time visitor easily join the Bon Odori dance?\u003Cbr>A. Dancers wear numbers so beginners know where to stand\u003Cbr>B. Everyone follows the same simple steps over and over around the tower\u003Cbr>C. A teacher hands out written instructions before the dance begins\u003Cbr>D. The drummer calls out each new move for the crowd to try\u003Cbr>3) What does the term 'Bon Odori' mean?\u003Cbr>A. The lantern river B. The family visit\u003Cbr>C. The Obon dance D. The summer drum\u003Cbr>4) According to the article, what religion is Obon connected to?\u003Cbr>A. It is a Shinto tradition started only a few decades ago\u003Cbr>B. It is a Hindu tradition shared across many Asian countries\u003Cbr>C. It is a Buddhist tradition marked in Japan for hundreds of years\u003Cbr>D. It is a Christian tradition brought from Europe long ago\u003Cbr>5) How does the article compare Obon with the Day of the Dead and All Souls' Day?\u003Cbr>A. It says Obon is its own summer celebration with its own meaning\u003Cbr>B. It says the three holidays all take place in autumn\u003Cbr>C. It says Obon copied its customs from those two holidays\u003Cbr>D. It says all three are exactly the same holiday with different names","cbCaiaMv46mRTleM","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaMv46mRTleM","pdf",92103,"English","# Obon: Japan’s Festival of Ancestors\n## What Obon Means\n## Bon Odori Dance and Yagura\n## Family Visits and Travel\n## Toro Nagashi Lantern Floating","[{\"question\":\"What is Obon, according to the article?\",\"answer\":\"Obon is a festival when families believe their ancestors’ spirits come home to visit for a few summer nights.\"},{\"question\":\"What is Bon Odori, and what does it involve?\",\"answer\":\"Bon Odori is the name of the Obon dance. People circle around a yagura, following simple repeated steps so visitors can join in.\"},{\"question\":\"What happens during toro nagashi?\",\"answer\":\"Families gently float glowing paper lanterns down rivers and out to sea to guide the spirits back to their world.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the article say Obon is a busy travel time?\",\"answer\":\"Many people travel to their hometowns to clean graves and share meals, so trains and highways fill up.\"}]","Obon: Japan's Festival of Ancestors - Reading | PDF",1790807527,18]