https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/06/obon-festival-returning-to-san-joses-japantown-this-weekend/

San Jose’s historic Japantown will be filled with the sound of taiko drumming and the aroma of chicken teriyaki this weekend, and that means one thing: The Obon festival is back in person.

Obon — a Japanese Buddhist festival that honors the dead — is one of the city’s longest-running cultural events, dating back certainly to the post-World War II period and probably back to the 1930s. And while San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin has kept the community engaged with Obon@Home festivals the past two years, it feels great to have the real thing back again — even if it is somewhat scaled back as we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.