Home Location Activities Sponsors Volunteers Media Links Culture Français	Bon Odori Bon Odori (meaning simply Bon dance) is an event held during Obon. It is celebrated as a reminder of the gratefulness one should feel toward one's ancestors. Chochin Japanese Chochin are paper or silk covered bamboo lanters with either a candle or electric bulb inside. Chochin are often used for celebrations and are strung from the Yagura, decorating the festival’s site. Chochin lanterns will be strung from each of the four corner posts of the Yagura and will also decorate a guardrail on the platform of the Yagura. Happi Happi is a traditional Japanese straight-sleeved coat usually made of indigo or brown cotton and imprinted with a distinctive mon (crest). Kakigori Kakigori is a centuries old popular Japanese summer dessert made from shaved ice flavored with syrup. Kyudo Kyudo literally meaning "way of the bow", is the Japanese art of archery. It is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budo). Okonomiyaki Okonomiyaki is a Japanese dish consisting of a pan-fried batter cake with various ingredients. Okonomi means "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki means "grilled" or "cooked" (cf. yakitori and yakisoba); thus, the name of this dish means "cook what you like". In Japan, okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region. O-Mikoshi A mikoshi is a portable Shinto shrine. Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle of a divine spirit in Japan at the time of a parade of deities. During a matsuri, people bear a mikoshi on their shoulders by means of the two poles. They bring the mikoshi from the shrine, carry it around the neighbourhoods that worship at the shrine, and in many cases leave it in a designated area, resting on blocks for a time, before returning it to the shrine. Taiko Taiko means "drum" in Japanese (etymologically "great" or "wide drum"). Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums (‘wa-daiko’, "Japanese drum", in Japanese) and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming (sometimes called more specifically, "kumi-daiko". Yagura A temporary wooden tower, like an elevated stage, that is reserved for Taiko drummers, around which the Bon Odori dance takes place. Yukata Yukata is a Japanese summer garment. People wearing yukata are a common sight at fireworks displays, bon-odori festivals, and other summer events. The yukata is a casual form of kimono that is also frequently worn after bathing at traditional Japanese inns. Though their use is not limited to after-bath wear, yukata literally means bath(ing) clothes.
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