Obon, the End of the War, and Fireworks on August 15

Life in Japan – Issue 038

This Saturday article is part of the “Life in Japan” series.
Unlike the in-depth essays published on Tuesdays, this series focuses on everyday life in Japan, sharing seasonal changes and daily scenes from a more personal and familiar perspective.

Japan is now in the middle of お盆（Obon）.

Obon is a time when families welcome home and honor the spirits of relatives and ancestors who have died. In many parts of Japan, it falls around August 13 to 16, and many companies give their employees time off for the Obon holiday. Schools are already on summer break, and many people travel back to their hometowns. Shinkansen trains, airports, and expressways become especially crowded at this time of year.

For me, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Obon is visiting our family grave together.

When I was a child, I would get into the car every year with my parents, siblings, and grandparents, and we would drive to our family grave. We cleaned the gravestone, offered flowers and incense, and brought our hands together in prayer. It was one of our annual summer traditions and one of the memories I associate with summer vacation.

Many families in Japan have a 先祖代々の墓（ancestral family grave）that is used across several generations. Gravestones are often inscribed with phrases such as 〇〇家之墓（Grave of the [Family Name] Family）or 先祖代々之墓（Ancestral Family Grave）. When I was a child, the people resting there were ancestors and relatives I had never met.

My grandfather used to make that trip with us. Now he rests in the same grave. Visiting it has also become a way for me to visit him. I can still go with my maternal grandmother, but my paternal grandmother has grown older and no longer has the strength to make the trip. Returning to the same place each year makes me aware of how my family has changed and how much time has passed.

The time we spend gathering during Obon, sharing a meal, and catching up with one another is precious family time. Remembering family members who have died and talking about them is also part of that time together.

This year, record-breaking rain fell in Chiba Prefecture during this important Obon period.

A linear rainband formed from August 13 into August 14, and an Emergency Warning for Heavy Rain was issued. Homes were flooded, roads disappeared beneath the water, landslides occurred, and trains and other forms of transportation were severely disrupted. The disaster also claimed lives. The Japan Meteorological Agency officially named it the August 2026 Chiba Torrential Rain. Damage is still being assessed, and recovery work continues.

Some people saw their homes damaged just as families were coming together for Obon, leaving them unable to make planned trips home or visit family graves. A major earthquake also struck Kumamoto Prefecture on July 28, and natural disasters have continued since then. I hope those affected can return to safe, stable lives as soon as possible, and that calmer days will soon come to Japan.

And today, August 15, Japan marks 終戦の日（the day marking the end of the war）.

At noon on August 15, 1945, the recorded voice of 昭和天皇（Emperor Shōwa）came over the radio in the 玉音放送（the Emperor’s broadcast announcing the end of the war）. It told the Japanese public that the country had accepted the Potsdam Declaration. This year marks 81 years since the long war came to an end.

Japan officially designates August 15 as the Day to Commemorate the War Dead and Pray for Peace. The Memorial Ceremony for the Nation’s War Dead is held at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo in remembrance of approximately 3.1 million people who died in the war. At noon, those attending observe one minute of silence. Across Japan, temple bells and municipal sirens mark the moment, and many people bring their hands together in prayer.

At this year’s ceremony, His Majesty the Emperor spoke about the importance of passing down the stories of the hardships people endured during and after the war. He also expressed his hope for peace throughout the world and for the happiness of all people.

I visited Hiroshima this spring.

I stood before the 原爆ドーム（Atomic Bomb Dome）and visited the 広島平和記念資料館（Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum）. The clothing, letters, lunch boxes, watches, and family photographs preserved there bring us back to the ordinary lives of the people who owned them. They ate with their families, went to school or work, and made plans for the next day. A single atomic bomb took all of that away.

I wrote about what I saw and felt there in my article, “81 Years Ago Today in Hiroshima.” Today, as Japan marks the end of the war, I hope you will read it again.

Fewer people who lived through the war remain with us each year. I did not experience the war either. But I can read the records they left behind, visit the places where these events happened, and listen to stories passed down through families and local communities. I believe that trying to understand what happened 81 years ago is where we begin if we want to keep the same mistakes from happening again.

On the evening of August 15, the 諏訪湖祭湖上花火大会（Lake Suwa Fireworks Festival）takes place at Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture.

I visited Lake Suwa during my trip to Nagano Prefecture last month. After learning that the fireworks festival would be held there today, I looked into its history.

The Lake Suwa Fireworks Festival began on August 15, 1949, four years after the end of the war. Japan was still struggling through the confusion of the postwar years. The first festival was held to give local people hope for a brighter future and encourage the city’s recovery. Around 50,000 people are said to have gathered to watch the fireworks rise above the lake. The festival is still held every year on August 15.

This year’s Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks Show and Abe River Fireworks Festival have already taken place, but both have histories closely connected to the war and Japan’s postwar recovery.

The 長岡まつり（Nagaoka Festival）in Niigata Prefecture grew out of the 長岡復興祭（Nagaoka Reconstruction Festival）, which was held the year after the Nagaoka air raid. Honoring those killed in the air raid, thanking the people who rebuilt the city, and praying for lasting peace remain at the heart of the festival today. On August 1, plain white fireworks are launched at the exact time the air raid began. Nagaoka’s fireworks carry three themes: remembrance, recovery, and peace.

The 安倍川花火大会（Abe River Fireworks Festival）in Shizuoka Prefecture began with prayers for the war dead, postwar recovery, and the peace and development of the local community. A Buddhist memorial service for the war dead is still held as part of the event. The Abe River fireworks continue to honor the lives lost in war.

Japan’s summer fireworks often carry the history of the places where they are held. Behind their bright colors, we sometimes find prayers for those who died and the hopes of people who set out to rebuild towns reduced to ashes.

During Obon, we visit family graves and bring our hands together for those who have died. At noon on the day marking the end of the war, we remember the lives that were lost and observe a moment of silence. Then, at night, families and friends look up together at fireworks that began with wishes for remembrance and recovery.

As I think of the fireworks over Lake Suwa today, my thoughts turn to my grandfather, the family members who are still here, the people affected by disasters, and the many lives lost 81 years ago.

I hope that next Obon, my family will once again be able to visit our family grave together; that those affected by disasters can feel safe in their daily lives again; and that the days ahead will remain free from war.

The fireworks of August 15 carry the hopes of people who remembered the past and still chose to live for tomorrow.

—Written by Sumire