Obon Festival - Camp Zama August 6, 2022
This weekend we attended an Obon Festival on Camp Zama. Obon is a traditional Buddhist custom where people honor the spirit of their ancestors. Traditional dances and and music are a huge part of the festival. These dances are know as Bon Odori. Camp Zama opened up the base to anyone in the community who wanted to attend. The front gate was closed to cars and only foot traffic was allowed to enter that gate. We noticed people lining up (going down the sidewalk) just outside the base hours before the event started. The past two years (since we arrived at Camp Zama) the festival has been canceled due to Covid. So it was a really big deal that it was finally happening again. The main events were musical performances (Taiko drummers were my favorite!), tons of food vendors (both from groups on base and from Japan), booths selling Camp Zama souvenirs, one of the Army's Blackhawk helicopters, the Bon Odori dances, and fireworks! It was amazing to see so many people on base - I think the...