The Obon festival season is an important time in our community and we are excited to be able to come together again!

This year’s San Jose Obon Festival will be on July 11th, 12 – 10 pm and July 12th, 12 – 9 pm on 5th Street between Taylor and Empire Streets in San Jose, CA with parking and a complimentary shuttle service from the Santa Clara County lot at North First and Hedding. (Google Map).

Because of the construction for our new Dharma Center building, we are unable to use the 4th Street lot or the buildings there were there.

Some of the changes include:

• The Bingo tent will be on 4th Street south of Jackson Street
• The Beer tent will be north of Jackson Street
• The game booths are on Jackson Street itself, both east and west from 4th Street
• The information booth will be on the corner of Jackson Street and 4th
• Due to infrastructure requirements the Livestream Studio and the Check Caching Booth are now gone

For more information please go to our Obon Frequently-Asked-Questions page below.

Obon is more than dancing and eating. There are many traditional decorations and items that are associated with it. And many of them can be made as craft projects by kids of all ages. Here are some craft activities for Obon that come from the teachers at Lotus Preschool and the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin Dharma School (Sunday school) teachers.

Check out a couple crafts we have put together to create at home!

• Create your own Tenugui
• Create your own Sensu (Folding Fan)
• Create your own Uchiwa (Simple Round Fan)

Coloring is soooooo soothing for kids of all ages! These coloring pages are by our resident mangaka-in-training, Hitomi Kohno. In these pages, she highlights the quintessential parts of the Obon Festival like the Taiko drumming, the yummy food and of course, the Obon Odori (dancing). So get your inner artist on and color in these pages! Then go to the Facebook site and post a pic with the “#SJobon” tag!

You may choose to download and print each one or print from the zip file of the entire collection.