Obon. Most young men who have an idea of what this season means usually think, “Bon dances! Meet girls, walk around and look good, eat barbecue sticks and corn-on-the-cob.” And most girls with any idea of what obon is all about think, “Bon dances! Meet guys, walk around and look good, eat barbecue sticks and corn-on-the-cob, and (if possible) dance with my prettiest kimono in the most graceful way with my hair all curled or even piled high and full of ornaments…”
“Most people don’t think of the purpose of obon — they just think ‘Bon dance,’ a summer activity,” said Bishop Yoshiaki Fujitani of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii. But obon is more than a dance and social occasion, he said. “I think it becomes more meaningful if people would realize what it is – how much richer they’d be!”
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