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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, May 24, 2008

FESTIVAL
Lantern fest offers guiding light for loved ones

By Mary Vorsino
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Shinso Ito founded the Lantern Floating Hawai'i ceremony nine years ago. The annual event is held every Memorial Day.

JOAQUIN SIOPACK | The Honolulu Advertiser

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10TH ANNUAL LANTERN FLOATING HAWAI'I CEREMONY

What: Ceremony to honor those who have died and to pray for peace

Where: Ala Moana Beach Park

When: Lanterns to be set off starting at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Some 800 lanterns will be set aside for members of the public to put into the water. One lantern is allowed per family, and lanterns are available on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 1 p.m.

Cost: Free, though donations go to the city for upkeep of Ala Moana Beach Park

Parking: Free parking available at Hawai'i Convention Center, with free shuttle to park

For more information: Go to www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com or call 942-1848

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Nine years ago, Shinso Ito brought an age-old Japanese ceremony to the Islands to promote peace and honor the dead. The leader of the Shinnyo-en Buddhist order couldn't think of a better place to bring together a diverse group of people and have them share a quiet moment of reflection to remember their ancestors or pray for a less violent world.

"People in Hawai'i have the spirit of 'ohana," said Ito, who lives in Tokyo, in a rare interview at the Shinnyo-en Temple in Mo'ili'ili. Speaking through a translator, Ito, a slight woman of 66, said the lantern floating ceremony is about remembering, but it is also about relishing and appreciating life.

"We live in such a beautiful world," she said, smiling.

Every year, Ito officiates the Lantern Floating Hawai'i ceremony she founded.

The event has grown immensely since it kicked off in 1999, drawing just over 7,000 people to Ke'ehi Lagoon. Last year, more than 34,000 people came out to Ala Moana Beach Park to see the ceremony. And this Memorial Day, at the 10th annual event, at least 30,000 people are expected to turn out to see some 1,500 lanterns set off into the water at sunset.

The ceremony is the only one of its kind outside Japan, Shinnyo-en members say.

Attendees request that prayers be written on the lanterns, which are lit and set into the water.

In Japan, lantern floating festivals are traditionally held at the end of summer to honor ancestors and pray for peace. But when Ito brought the ceremony to Hawai'i, she decided to put an American spin on the event and hold it on Memorial Day — a day set aside to honor the sacrifice of others.

Every year, Ito said, she has "different prayer in my heart" as the lanterns are sent out to sea. This year, she'll honor the victims of natural disasters.

She'll also ask for an end to war.

Ito, whose Shinnyo-en Buddhist order has more than 1 million members worldwide, said the most important part of the ceremony is that it includes people of all belief systems.

Roy Ho, executive director of the Na Lei Aloha Foundation, which puts on the ceremony, said one of the beautiful things about the event is how well it crosses religious lines to reach out to so many people.

"Lantern floating is really an experience," he said. "There's no preaching, there's no sermon. It's a teaching without words."

There will be 800 paper lanterns available for the public to float, available on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 1 p.m. on Memorial Day. An additional 700 lanterns will hold the prayers of many people, and some will have themes (such as a Hawai'i lantern).

Volunteers will be in eight canoes offshore to collect the lanterns.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.