盆
ぼん · bon · JLPT N2 · noun
dead
🏮 皿 dish radical at the base + 分 sound part = a tray. Obon is the Festival of the Dead.
Obon (お盆) is Japan's summer Festival of the Dead, when ancestors are welcomed home with lanterns. The same 盆 names the tray that holds offerings, and its 皿 radical marks it as a dish.
盆 — 分 (fēn, phonetic) + 皿 (mǐn, dish/vessel)
盆 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The bottom 皿 depicts an open vessel or dish and gives the meaning 'basin/bowl,' while the top 分 supplies the sound 'fēn,' which shifted to 'pén.' It originally referred to a wide, shallow earthenware basin used for washing or holding food.