Virtual Obon: Ancestor Rituals in the Pandemic

Each summer, Japan’s Obon festival brings the living and the dead together, as families return home to welcome ancestral spirits, clean graves, and dance in communal remembrance. But the pandemic broke that rhythm, severing travel and turning a deeply physical ritual into a source of anxiety and guilt. In this episode, we explore how Obon adapted under lockdowns, from virtual-reality grave visits to proxy mourners who clean tombs on behalf of absent families, sometimes livestreaming the act itself. Set against Obon’s Buddhist roots and enduring traditions, the story asks how rituals of remembrance survive when presence is impossible—and what it means when technology steps in to mediate our duties to the dead.https://www.economist.com/asia/2020/08/20/covid-19-has-made-it-hard-for-the-japanese-to-visit-family-graves