Olympia’s Bon Odori returns to once again honor the ancestors — and to build community

Molly Gilmore
·3 min read

Olympia’s Bon Odori — a secular version of the traditional Japanese festival honoring the ancestors through dance and music — is back after a four-year hiatus.

“It’s been a long break,” said Reiko Callner of the Japanese-American Citizens’ League, which puts on the event. “It’s nice to have a traditional event to participate in again.

“We’ve all had losses in the last couple of years, and there is a real feeling of closure and closeness and the notion that you’re celebrating with the ones you love that’s different than a lot of things we do in our day to day.”

The event is in a new location this time. After years of gathering on Water Street in downtown Olympia, Bon Odori will be at the Olympia campus of South Puget Sound Community College on Saturday evening.

The heart of the event is an array of traditional Japanese folk dances, which are led by dancers garbed in colorful yukata (summer kimonos) and in which all in attendance are encouraged to participate.

The celebration, a secular version of a Buddhist festival, is gentle and joyful, Callner said. The dances, which are simple and repetitive, represent various aspects of life — from coal mining to fireworks.

“Bon dances rejoice in life, as we visit with ancestors who have departed for the spirit world and remember those we have lost in more recent months and years,” according to the event’s press release.

The same dances are performed year after year, but there are occasional additions. One dance is a kind of samba, and another is a version of the Electric Slide.

Olympia’s Bon Odori also features taiko drumming, a karate demonstration and a performance of Okinawan drumming and dance. There’ll be food trucks, too.

Gaps in once-annual events have become commonplace since the pandemic, but Bon Odori, which last happened in 2018, was interrupted not just by COVID but also by a lack of volunteers.

“We have a small core group of volunteers,” Callner said. “People were getting kind of tired and overwhelmed with the work it took. We were planning to skip 2019 and switch to doing it every other year.”

Whether the festival will once again happen annually is yet to be decided.

“Life has become so unprecedented,” she said. “We’re going to see how it goes. I want to see how much support we can get.”

Bon Odori

  • What: Bon Odori, sponsored by the Olympia Japanese American Citizens’ League, is a secular version of the traditional festival that celebrates the ancestors through participatory dance.

  • When: 5-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26

  • Where: South Puget Sound Community College, in front of Building 22, 2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia

  • More information: https://www.facebook.com/JACLOlympia/, 360-791-3295, 360-556-7562

  • Dance practice: All are welcome to join in the dances, and no experience or practice is needed. There’s an optional free practice at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25, at the festival location.

Schedule

  • 5:30 p.m. Karate demonstration by PNW Ryuei Ryu Ryuhou Kan

  • 6 p.m. Music and dance by Okinawa Kenjin Kai Chijimshuu

  • 7-9 p.m. Dances, accompanied by Fuji Taiko of the Tacoma Buddhist Temple

  • 8 p.m. Break for drumming by Fuji Taiko