Festival With Eastern Quality Takes On Western Flavor : Holiday: Obon, a commemoration of the dead, is celebrated by Japanese Americans with food, folk dances and fun.

Virginia Johnson was simply driving past the Orange County Buddhist Church on Saturday afternoon when dozens of red, blue and yellow paper lanterns strung high above the parking lot caught her eye.

When the Anaheim cashier stopped her car and peeked through the gates, she was immediately invited to join the thousands who had gathered to celebrate the Japanese festival of Obon.

A commemoration of the dead, Obon dates back many centuries in Japan and is celebrated every year as a summer carnival. Because of the growing number of fourth- and fifth-generation Japanese American members of the temple in Orange County, the observance here has a decidedly Western flavor.

“In Japan it is a national holiday. Everybody goes home to their villages, and the cities in essence close down for the week,” said Louie Yamamishi, president of the Anaheim temple’s board of directors. “Here, it has become extremely Westernized. The festival lasts two days, and the dances change little by little every year.”

Colorful folk dances accompany a Buddhist service that is a mixture of solemnity and gaiety, said the Rev. Marvin Harada. The dances, a series of four or five simple movements set to music, highlight the celebration.

The temple’s parking lot was transformed Saturday into a miniature carnival with food and game booths. At night, the lanterns were lit to lure back the spirits of dead ancestors for the festivities, especially the folk dances.

Dressed in colorful hapi coats (short jackets) and yakatas (summer kimonos), 500 dancers formed large circles in the temple parking lot and moved in synchronization to the beat of Japanese drums. Some pieces required the use of fans and clackers.

A favorite of the youngsters was a piece titled, “1 + 1 Ondo.”

“They enjoy this dance because the music is more modernized, with a different beat,” Harada said. “They have also invented some of their own steps to go with the dance.”

The legend on which the dance is based is centuries old, Harada said. One of Buddha’s 10 foremost disciples, Maudgalyayana, possessed the power to perceive things beyond earthly existence. When he saw his reborn mother in the realm of hungry demons, he sought Buddha’s advice.

As an act of giving, the disciple offered food to the monks after they had finished their rainy season retreat on the 15th day of the seventh month. As a result, his mother and seven generations of parents were saved and rose from the realms of the demons. Everybody in Maudgalyayana’s village became happy and joyful and danced. Thus, the Obon festival was born.

For Greg Sonoda, 8, the festival means more than “celebrating dead people. It’s fun, games and laughter too.”

“It’s really great,” he said. “There are all these games and one with consolation prizes.”

Sonoda was referring to the Tic Tac Toe toss, where party favors are given to those who fail to throw a softball into three wooden squares in a row. Another booth featured a game in which Ping-Pong balls are thrown into fishbowls, with winners taking home three-inch goldfish.

“I don’t think we have these kinds of goldfish in Japan,” Harada said with a laugh.

Also reflecting the Japanese American mix was the cuisine. Members of the temple sold dishes ranging from sushi to chow mein to teri-burgers.

“The teri-burgers are definitely a Japanese American invention,” Harada said of the briskly selling sandwiches, which featured teriyaki chicken on a hamburger bun.

Johnson, the passerby who happened upon the festival, was among those sampling the fried won-tons.

“My family makes fun of me for being curious about everything,” she said as she dipped one of the tasty dumplings in a sweet-and-sour sauce. “See where it got me today? Good food and a lesson in Japanese culture.”

The Obon festival continues today from 2 to 8:30 p.m., with a dance performance at 7 p.m.