I’ve never attended myself, but I’ve passed by empty lots where a red and white striped stage, tethered by strings of lanterns has been prepared for Bon Odori. Typically the event is celebrated with a variety of folk dances, accompanied by traditional instruments. During the festivities, the edges of the field are lined with food stalls doing brisk business among the hungry celebrants.
Bon Odori has its roots in the Buddhist practice of Nembutsu Odori, a chanting ritual with dancing that originated over 1,000 years ago1. It is suggested the dances were meant to welcome the spirits of the dead as they returned to their family homes.2
Now, though, they are mainly community events – an excuse to gather, eat, and dance late into the night.
In the parable of the prodigal son, there is a passing reference to dancing:
“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.”
Luke 15:25
Why was there music and dancing?
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on [the prodigal son], and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
Luke 15:22-24
They were celebrating the return of the prodigal son! And that celebration meant music, dancing, and feasting.
Participating in Bon Odori dances may still require some discernment on the part of Christians, but there is certainly no one with more reason to dance than those who once were dead and are now alive again!
Bible Reading
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:9-14
Prayer Prompts
- Pray for wisdom for Japanese Christians as they discern whether and how to join these celebrations.
- Pray for Japanese Christians to be filled with joy over the reality that they once were dead but have been made alive in Christ.
- Pray that many more Japanese will realize their desperate need and turn to Christ.
Footnotes
Bon Odori: Symbol of the Japanese Summer
Japan’s “Bon Odori”: Welcoming Ancestors’ Spirits Home with Good, Plain Fun
The ESV Bible. Crossway, 2001, www.esv.org/.