The Obon Festival is an annual Buddhist event for commemorating one’s ancestors. It is believed that each year during Obon, the ancestors’ spirits return to this world in order to visit their relatives. At the festival, lanterns are hung in front of houses to guide the ancestors’ spirits, dances are performed, graves are visited, and food offerings are made at houses, altars, and temples. At the end of Obon, floating lanterns are put into rivers, lakes and seas in order to guide the spirits back into their world.

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