The available literature traces it to a story about a boy who lost his mother to hungry ghosts. When the boy, a disciple of the Buddha, asked the Buddha how his mother could be freed, he was told to make offerings to monks on the 15th day of the seventh month.
The boy did this and his mother was released. He danced to welcome her return.
The story has links to the Buddhist Ullambana Sutra, which also underpins the Chinese Hungry Ghosts Festival.
Japanese culture expert Masatoshi Soeda said it was to the Japanese a celebration of the return of their ancestors from heaven.
Soeda is the director of the Japanese Culture Centre for Universiti Sains Malaysia-Kyoto University of Foreign Studies.
He told FMT Bon Odori had shed its religious meaning although it had its roots in Buddhism.
“To celebrate the return of ancestors, we dance together to welcome them,” he said. “In contemporary Japanese society, it has evolved into a cultural festival held during summer. There is traditional folk dancing and the yosakoi (an energetic dance).
“It is celebrated the same way in Malaysia, too.
“People come in their yukatas (summer robes) and have a good time while watching yosakoi dances.
“There is nothing religious about Bon Odori today. It is a time to reunite with families and friends.”
Soeda said Bon Odori was an excellent time to make new friends and enjoy Japanese food.
Another Japanese culture expert, Clement Liang of Ritsumeikan University, said Bon Odori had roots in the Asian culture of remembering the departed through prayers and other rituals.
He said the local celebration of Bon Odori had the function of mending ties between Malaysia and Japan after the painful experience of World War II.
“Both countries suffered. Many Malayans were killed and the Japanese, too, were killed.
“Bon Odori is such an excellent opportunity to bring our countries together. We let the war pass and we don’t wish for a repeat of that in the future. We learn about Japanese culture, and they learn about ours.
“That is what it essentially is. If you don’t want to participate, you can observe. You don’t have to dance or do anything,” he said.
Religious affairs minister Idris Ahmad recently advised Muslims against taking part in the festival, saying it had influences from non-Muslim religions.
Liang said he hoped the minister’s statement would not scare off the sizable Japanese investor population in Malaysia.
He said the event was significant to the 10,000-plus Japanese expatriates in the Klang Valley and the 2,000-plus Japanese in Penang.
The annual festival, organised by the Japanese community in Malaysia, returns after a two-year hiatus because of Covid-19. It will be held in Shah Alam on July 16 and in Penang on July 30.
The Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur, one of the organisers, describes Bon Odori as having started in Malaysia in 1977 as “a small affair” for Japanese expatriates to immerse their children in Japanese culture and having grown “into a much-awaited annual event of about 35,000 participants each year”.
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