MEMORIAL DAY
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Shinnyo-En Lantern Floating Ceremony (Toro Nagashi), sponsored by Na Lei Aloha Foundation/Shinnyo-En Hawaii, was held yesterday at Ala Moana Beach Park. About 700 lanterns were launched from canoes off Magic Island.
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Lantern ceremony draws 20,000 in honor of loved ones
More than 20,000 people lined the Ala Moana Park shoreline at dusk yesterday to watch the launching of 1,100 lanterns carrying prayers for peace and for deceased relatives and friends.
The traditional Buddhist memorial ceremony has escalated into a professionally staged spectacle with the action onstage and at sea broadcast to the crowd on 50-foot screens and transmitted by satellite to Japan and the mainland.
It has become a Memorial Day tradition for many local residents, who come early with picnics and watch a show, which this year included performances by Jake Shimabukuro, Kanilau, Nalani Olds, and Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom and Halau O Ka Hanu Lehua.
Josephine Ponce said her family offered $5 for each name of several deceased family members to be written on lanterns. The money goes to the Shinnyo-En Hawaii sect, which organizes the event.
"We believe in remembering our dead and praying for them," said Ponce, whose five children and several grandchildren had grandstand seats under three canopies they erected near shore.
When the lanterns float out, "it seems that their spirits are going out," said her daughter Marlene Kaneshiro. "We're remembering my dad and others. We're celebrating them because we miss them. It feels good."
Akira Pontanilla stood with his mother and grandmother, tears flowing down their cheeks. They came to remember his girlfriend Iku Ikezawa, who died April 3. "She wanted to make a lantern for her parents, but we came too late last year. I sent it out for her today. I miss her and I love her."
"We were blessed that we had her," said his grandmother Mary Poole. She said five generations of her family came to the park for the observance.
More than 2,000 visitors from Japan, most of them members of the Shinnyo-En sect, traveled to Hawaii for the event. Hundreds of the visitors were brought by bus to the park early and settled on a grassy expanse beside the pathway for dignitaries. They gave quiet and prolonged applause to the sect's leader, Bishop Shinso Ito, as she walked past with other Buddhist priests.
"I'm excited to see her," said Michiko Takahira, of Osaka.
Several mainland tourists said hotel employees steered them to the lantern floating. Alan and Gayle Norbryhn of Long Beach, Calif., said both have lost their fathers in the past year. "I will be praying," she said. "And hoping they're in a better place," he added.
Just at dark the lanterns were released as loudspeakers carried the sound of Buddhist mantras sung with operatic volume by the massed voices of local and Japanese choirs accompanied by an orchestra and taiko drummers.
About 700 lanterns of wood and rice paper were carried out in outrigger canoes and launched from offshore. The others were set adrift from the coastline. More than a dozen surfers in uniform red shirts were dispatched earlier to collect the lanterns so they would not become debris. Six larger lanterns were dedicated to general intercessions for world peace and the victims of war, water-related disasters and natural calamities. One was named for Hawaii and its monarchy.
"You make the Buddha's heart come alive," Ito told the crowd. She spoke in Japanese, with English subtitles beamed on the large screen.
There are more than 1,000 members of Shinnyo-En Hawaii, and most of them appeared to be involved as volunteers in the village of tents for prayer collection, souvenir sales, VIP accommodation and first aid. About 100 security officers and special-duty Honolulu police officers were on duty for crowd control.