Obon

Must be quite jam packed every where during the rush and it looks like the baby ain't too happy about it...

tailbacks=traffic jam?

Oooh. Since there are lots of holidays in the Philippines the transportation/vacation scenario you are describing repeats every few months or so. The biggest rushes are during start/end of summer vacation, start/end of semester break, start/end of Holy Week, and start/end of Halloween-All Saints' Day-All Souls' Day.

That last is much like Obon actually, people camping out at cemeteries.

Ah! I think I heard the words in the video!

Didn't they go to an Obon festival in the new Haruhi episodes? I recall hearing the name.

Does this mean they have festivals around Obon season?

Sounds like Toronto on a summer weekend. :)

fiuh... lucky I arrived before Obon and going to leave after Obon... so trains may not be as packed ^^;

was wondering what Obon was about, thanks for the info Danny!

Ohhh I'd love to travel round Tokyo on the underground when it was less busy, empty trains rock. Empty anywhere rocks. Tis why cities at night are awesome. Less ppl, pretty lights.

I`ve heard of Obon Festival.

Wow - 4 days of rush hour

Im just amazed thinking how the transport department deals with this!

the sheer volume reminds me of "thanksgiving"

Must be horrible outside the principal cities but it must be cool for the people staying in the cities empty trains and streets LOL.

Sounds like a regular morning and afternoon rush hour in Metro Manila.

It can be quite frustrating when driving right now. My in laws like to get up early to leave by car and usually only stay the day. It made for a nice trip since my mother in law and my wife would make lunch. The trip is always very scenic.

Sounds like any major holiday around here, where its got a long weekend associated with it.

Like Christmas, 4th of july. Glad to see life isn't always that different.

I totally forgot about this Obon festival even I have the Japanese calendar XD

however Obon coincides with Comiket so..... its really a tough choice for some, and not so tough for others lolllll

I suppose there's days like this in every culture, when the whole family gets together. For N. Americans it's Thanksgiving; for Chinese there's New Years, amongst many others.

Canada has tons of holidays, but they are usually one day holidays, we have one to two a month.

Somehow, it's sad how old traditions are losing their original meaning and start being used as go-and-have-fun days instead.

That must be a good tradition to keep in touch with your family. I can imagine the traffic that it can cause.

In Korea, there is 'Chu-Seok' which is written in Kanji with 'Autumn(秋)' and 'Evening(夕)'. It's based on the lunar calendar and usually between late September and early October(This year, it's October 3rd).
It's a sort of 'Thanksgiving' and 'Obon' put together, in a sense it is to thank the forefathers(and mothers) for the year's harvest.
At this time of year and the lunar New Year, the streets of Seoul is so deserted, it almost looks like a ghost town. ^^;

Traffic jam up to 43km, that's really heavy jam........

Chinese have the similar custom too, it's called "Ching Ming", but I'm not sure about the similarity if compared to Japanese one.

does Mirai Inc. give Obon vacations XD?

Always nice to see your family. But it would seem more wise to visit your folks at some other time (earlier maybe?) and then you can chill in a less crowded Tokyo! ^^

Good to see family every now and then.

Major cities empty? Impossible :o

In Malaysia, we termed it "balik kampung".

So the big cities become empty, and small towns and countryside are bursting at the seams? Well, here in my town you can notice a similar phenomenon every weekend. It's called "second housing". People leave the town on Friday evening to spend the weekend at their cottage, and then they come back to town on Sunday evening. And you really can feel that there's more space in the city on weekend. For example, it's much much easier to find a place to park your car.

There are similiar tradition in Indonesia called as "Pulang Kampung" or "Mudik"

Aye, I knew of this "family reunion" but didn't realize the extent of the crowds. Was planning to go to Osaka on a domestic flight later this week but I think I will just stick around Tokyo instead.

This makes my life feel a tad bit ironic. (^_^;;

On my late dad's side, I'd have to honor my departed family members (I am pretty much the last one left). Yet, on my mom's side, I'd have to travel just to see the family members I know of and do like. XP

quick question regarding this period for you Danny:

you said most companies except the retail/foreign companies will take a break during this period. does that mean that Akihabara will still be fully open or the big departmental stores will be closed during this period?

Seems like this month is bad to do any traveling to Japan.

Earthquake near Shizoku a few days ago.
Now Obon.

I'm planning to come here next year but don't know if I should be here during sakura blossoms or around Oct/Nov like last year's.

So August is a bad month to go to Japan.... noted.

There's a popular word for the family reunion time in Germany: christmas. It's really funny how all the university students (and other of course) floating to the central station of each city to travel to their home area after the day of the last lectures. Well, it seems it's not so packed as it looks in Japan but still you feel it's different.

This do happen in Singapore during the Chinese New Year. Malaysian working in Singapore will rush back to their hometown during this time and back when the holidays end. I'm one of them and it's really tiring with all the squeezing and standing.

Hmm - it's kind of interesting that a tradition to honor the departed became one to spend time with the living. It makes a lot of sense though as you want to appreciate the living more when you're thinking of loved ones that have already passed.

And I can't imagine how crowded traveling is at this time then, if everyone really leaves to go home. That's a lot of people moving to different places all at the same time x_x.

wouldn't mind going to japan around that time to see a traditional obon festival

That is the reason why the shop is so less customer today??

Yea I'm enjoying my Obon break too. Funny thing is, I went to Tokyo rather than away from Tokyo, and it was STILL crowded.

The earthquake in Shizuoka didn't make things any easier.

looks like Austria and Germany during spring/winter break...

Might be a great time to take some street photographs of Tokyo without having at least 10 people in your view. ^^;

That's a lot of people...kinda reminds me of my commute everyday...

I think I'd love to be in Tokyo right now- emptier trains and emptier streets? Heck yes~ gives me a better chance of seeing who I want to see. XD

No wonder there isn't as much people as what I usually encountered during the morning train ride here in Tokyo. ^^;;

I guess any country which has major city where its majority of labour is from country sides will face similar issue.

Only at different time or similar time depending on the local culture.

If you are travelling to Malaysia avoid first and 2nd week afte the muslims´ fasting month, Ramadan.

Avoid travel during The first and the second day of Chinese new year.

Well for Deepavali or Thaipusam, encourage to come over to observe and learn how Hindus celebrate their festive seasons.

must honor the shit out of your dead.

Obon time here in LA means Nisei Week, which is more like "Nisei Month" at this point.

http://www.niseiweek.org/home.html

And we're all screwed up here on other things too...Little Tokyo will also have Tanabata decorations up. Never mind Tanabata was last month...don't confuse us with the real traditions, we do it cafeteria stylee here.

http://www.downtownla.com/0_01_eventDetail.asp?EventID=904

LA. Ain't nothing like it.

Malaysian's have that too its called "Hari Raya Aidilfitri" or as we Malaysians call it " Balik Kapung" which means going back to the village

I really wish they had these kinds of festivals in Australia!

A similar thing happens in China during New Years, train tickets are impossible to get and even if you get on one, it's standing room only.