Japanese cities turn into ghost towns during the Bon holiday period

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Japanese cities turn into ghost towns during the Bon holiday period

A boy skateboards past Yanaka Cemetery in Tokyo’s Taito Ward. A perfectly peaceful spot the rest of the year, it becomes a place children may test their courage during the Bon holidays. | JOHAN BROOKS

By Yuko Tamura
Contributing writer

Aug 8, 2024

Tokyo may look like a ghost town next week, Aug. 12 is 山の日 (yama no hi, Mountain Day), a 国民の祝日 (kokumin no shukujitsu, public holiday). Then, from Aug. 13 to 16, is the Bon holiday.

Better known as お盆 (o-Bon, o-Bon), this is a time when many Japanese people return to their 故郷 (办辞办测ō/furusato, hometowns) to pay respect to their 先祖 (senzo, ancestors) by welcoming their 魂 (tamashii, souls) back to the realm of the living. With many people leaving Tokyo and Osaka, you can see how the big cities may be ghost towns in more ways than one.

ただ、お盆に戻ってくるのは安らかに眠る魂だけではありません (Tada, o-Bon ni modotte-kuru no wa yasuraka ni nemuru tamashii dake dewa arimasen, However, those who come and return during o-Bon aren’t just the peacefully resting souls). Also lurking about are 幽霊 (测ū谤别颈, ghosts) who continue to bear grudges with the living, and that’s why the summertime in Japan tends to be associated with 怪談 (kaidan, ghost stories) and 肝試し (kimodameshi, tests of courage) in facing those 幽霊.