Bon Festival

The Bon Festival is a time of remembrance and reverence towards a family's departed ancestors. During the festival, a family's ancestors, as well as the malevolent spirits of those who met violent ends or who have no grave, return to the homes of their descendants. Extended fmilies come together across Rokugan at this time and provide two sets of altars for the spirits: one for the ancestors of their family and one for the spirits of those with no one to provide an altar for them.

Rokugani travel to the graves where their ancestors are interred, light lanterns to greet their spirits, and then return to their homes, hanging the lanters outside to guide the spirits to them.

The night of the Bon Festival, the local shugenja will perform a Bon dance to entertain the gathered spirits, preventing them from becoming angry and harming people. The shugenja will travel from house to house, so they can dance for every local family.

At the end of the festival, the people send the spirits back to the worlds beyond. The people guide the spirits by floating lit candles and paper lanterns down nearby rivers.