Obon

The dead come home for three days and are seen off again. The tradition traces it to Maudgalyayana, who saw his mother suffering in the next world and was told to make an offering to the community of monks, and who danced with relief when she was released - which is what the Bon dance is said to be.

The dead come home for three days. A welcoming fire is lit to guide them, the family grave is cleaned and visited, and a farewell fire or a floated lantern sends them back. The bon odori danced in the evenings is danced for them, in a circle, by anyone who turns up.

A welcoming fire is lit at the gate and a farewell fire at the end. Graves are cleaned and an altar is set with food. Bon odori is danced in the open, in a ring around a tower, by anybody who turns up. Toro nagashi - paper lanterns floated on a river - closes it.

Mid-August across most of Japan, mid-July in Tokyo and parts of the Kanto, and on the old lunar date in Okinawa - so the country keeps it in three waves. Kyoto's Gozan no Okuribi burns characters into the hillsides on the last night.