O-bon is a special time when families pray for their ancestors. People believe their ancestors’ souls come back to visit with their families at this time.People clean their houses and offer a variety of food such as vegetables, fruits and sweets to the spirits of ancestors in front of the butsudan (a Buddhist family altar) or a small spirit altar called a shoroydana. The altar is decorated with paper lanterns.On August 13th, lanterns are lit, and families go to family graves to bring back their family spirits. The graves are different from those in my country of Canada because many people in Japan are cremated, so the grave only contains some of their ashes and the complete body is not buried under a tombstone inside a coffin. Graves are cleaned at O-bon, new water is left for the souls and flowers or plants are also left for them.Small fires may be lit or just incense may be lit to guide the spirits back to the family home.On the 16th, send off fires may be lit to send the spirits back to the graves.During this time of year, many O-bon dance festivals are held to remember ancestors. Many of the dances are slow and performed in a circle by members of the community, with dance leaders guiding people in the dance moves. Other dances may be lively, such as the dance festivals in Naruto and Tokushima. These dances do not go in a circle and are quite lively compared to the usual O-bon dances.When I first came to Japan, my image was that this time of year would be somber and sad. Instead, I’ve learned that people in Japan seem to have a healthy view of death and dying. While I found many people I knew in Canada withdraw from dealing with death and dying and often seem to think little of past ancestors, people in Japan through events such as O-bon think about death and dying as part of one’s usual life.I’ve heard about Mexico’s Day of the Dead in recent years and think that it too, may be a healthy and positive way of dealing with death and dying.Of course losing loved ones is never easy and a happy experience. But I’ve found through my experience in Japan that O-bon is a healthy way to continue to think about and love those which we have lost.