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 (kokyō/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 (yūrei, 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.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.