Japanese Festival of the Dead - (Obon) Mitama Festival at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo

Obon is the Japanese Festival of the Dead in which Japanese believe the souls of the departed return home for a brief while. Obon is a Buddhist tradition but in the native Shinto faith there is the Mitama Festival which is in association with Obon. Mitama means soul of a deceased person. At Yasukuni Shrine they celebrate Mitama/Obon Festival in July. Although a place of Shintoism, Yasukuni pretty does much of what traditional Obon celebrations do particularly Bon Odori (dances) and Toro Nagashi (place paper lanterns in the water). The only difference is the Mikoshi (portable Shinto shrine) which they march up to the shrine swaying and chanting.