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27th annual Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi held in Honolulu

May 26, 2025

Against the backdrop of a dusk sky, an elder, grey-haired woman wearing bright orange robes and a white lace shawl bows slightly as she places a garlanded wreath onto a boat-like wooden and paper lantern; an attendant wearing a blue shirt, holding a folding fan, and prayer beads kneels to her left, steadying the lantern.

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi / Her Holiness Shinso Ito places a lei on one of the guiding lanterns of Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi 2025.

On Memorial Day (May 26, 2025), an estimated 50,000 people peacefully gathered to collectively reflect, pray, and remember those who died in service to the country, as well as departed loved ones at Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi 2025 on Ala Moana Beach in Honolulu.

The event, organized by Shinnyo-en and Nā Lei Aloha Foundation, opened with the blowing of ceremonial conchs by ʻĀlapa Hoe Canoe Club, an apprentice navigator of the Hōkūleʻa double-hulled Polynesian voyaging canoe, and an 8th grade representative of Kamehameha Middle School in Honolulu. The sounds of the conchs were followed by traditional Hawaiian chants for protection, purification, and reflection and a hula led by Kumu Hula Tatiana Tseu Fox.

Four men and women wearing floral print clothing walk across an outdoor stage under a dusk sky, holding bowls filled with flower petals in their left hands, and strewing them from their upraised right hands; two boat-like wooden and paper lanterns sit atop plinths in the foreground; clergy members wearing blue robes, sitting with hands folded can be seen toward the back of the stage.
Shinnyo-en members strew flower petals over the stage as part of the merit transfer rite.

This year, Colonel Rachel Sullivan, Commander at the U.S. Army Garrison Hawaiʻi, placed a lei on the guiding lantern with prayers for victims of war and conflicts. The lantern with prayers for Hawaiʻi, its people and its flora and fauna received its lei from legendary Hawaiian musician Keola Beamer; the lantern with prayers for all spirits of devout people of faith from religious studies professor Sister Malia Dominica Wong; the lantern with prayers for the breath giving oceans from Anthony Mau, aquaculture biologist at the State Coral Restoration Nursery; the lantern with prayers for victims of water accidents from Emilia Perry, wife of the late famed surfer Tamayo Perry; and the lantern with prayers for hope and healing for all beings was lit by Her Holiness Shinso Ito.

With a soft orange glow, a hexagonal paper lantern bearing prayers for hope and healing for all beings, adorned with a wreath-like lei, and fixed atop a wooden boat-like base, floats in the night time waters of a bay with a view of other floating lanterns and city lights and buildings in the deep background.
The guiding lantern with prayers for hope and healing for all beings, lit by Her Holiness Shinso Ito, floats in Ala Moana Bay.

There is a long-held tradition in East Asia of floating lanterns on water to honor our lost loved ones and reflect on our connections with them. Shinnyo Lantern Floating ceremonies provide space to come together in community to remember our loved ones—those who have made us who we are—and practice gratitude for all they have done for us. Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi is an opportunity to honor, to link our intentions, and to pass goodness on to those around us.

This year, an additional rite was conducted using water and fire gathered intentionally to root the event in the shared connection between Shinnyo-en and Hawaiʻi. The water used in the rite was brought from a brook at the Shinnyo-en head temple of Oyasono, from the Pacific Ocean on the shores of Japan, and from the shores of Hawaiʻi. The fire used in the rite was kindled from a kukui nut candle made by the Fergerstrom ʻohana in loving memory of their daughter and granddaughter, Tayler Nanea Pangan-Fergerstrom, who passed away at the tender age of 18.

Beneath stage lights and a night sky, a grey-haired woman in bright orange robes with a lace shawl and brocade apron, holds a folding fan in her hands and smiles warmly as a large group of singers dressed in floral print clothing cheerfully smile at her.
Her Holiness joins volunteers onstage to celebrate the successful completion of the event.

In light of the great uncertainty the world faces today, Her Holiness offered the following words of encouragement to the crowd gathered on the beach:

We each carry within us something unique and beautiful, just like the light of these lanterns. We must not lose sight of our light in the face of hardship or despair. With all the pain and confusion in the world, we must be unfailing in our determination to reveal our hope-filled light.

Read Her Holiness’ remarks in full and learn more about Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi at www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com

A poignant flute improvisation performed by shakuhachi master Steven Casano and Hawaiian nose flute master Keola Beamer accompanied attendees as they solemnly floated their lanterns on the darkening bay.

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