Chapter 219 – The First Obon

Mid-August. In Japan, this is the season of Obon.

In the 21st century, it’s basically an excuse to take a break, more a holiday season for going back to one’s hometown than for visiting ancestral graves. But about a century earlier, in this era, things were different. People normally and sincerely honored the spirits of their ancestors.

Up through the Edo period, Obon was held on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the old lunar calendar. However, if that date were simply converted to July 15 on the solar (Gregorian) calendar, it would overlap with the busiest period of the agricultural season.
For that reason, the date was shifted to August 15, which is closer to the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. That said, many places still insist on July 15, and there are quite a few