Question: No disrespect to the lantern floating, which I love, but it’s nice to see the focus return to ceremonies at Punchbowl and other military cemeteries. The specific purpose of Memorial Day as a holiday is to honor servicemen and women who died serving in the U.S. armed forces. If the lantern-floating does return next year as a large, in-person event, I hope they will choose a different day.
Answer: You are one of several readers expressing similar sentiments. Some, like you, prefer the media and public focus on Memorial Day events at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and other military-related sites, while others enjoyed spending the holiday at Ala Moana Regional Park without the throng of people that prior to the pandemic gathered for Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i, during which participants honor deceased loved ones, without regard to military service or religion, by writing messages on lanterns that are illuminated and floated offshore as the sun sets. The event has been popular, attracting huge crowds year after year, but hasn’t been held at the beach park since 2019 because of the pandemic, which restricted local events early on and still curtails travel from Japan.
It has been held on Memorial Day since 1999, initially at Keehi Lagoon and from 2002 through 2019 at Ala Moana Regional Park. This year a small-group, in-person experience is offered through Sunday on the grounds of Shinnyo-en Hawaii’s Buddhist temple; reservations went fast. Or people can float a virtual lantern. See details at lanternfloatinghawaii.com.
Plans for 2023 are not set.
“We have and will continue to collaborate with Shinnyo on their annual lantern floating event. It is too early to determine what is in store for next year’s ceremony, and we always aim to be as fair and equitable with our park permitting process, especially involving large events such as this,” said Nathan Serota, spokesman for Honolulu County’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
Event organizers from Shinnyo-en confirmed in a statement through public relations firm Stryker Weiner & Yokota that whether to hold a large, in-person event in 2023 hasn’t been decided, and that they would let the community know as soon as a decision is made.
Organizers appreciated the readers’ perspective and emphasized that the decision to hold the event on Memorial Day “was done out of profound respect for the history and meaning of the observance” and inspired by the founder of Shinnyo-en’s visit to Hawaii in 1970, when he paid respects at Punchbowl and the Arizona Memorial.
“His successor, Her Holiness Shinso Ito, feels a great respect for the desire of Americans to dedicate time to eventually honor all of their war dead. This aligned with her intention of offering prayers of spiritual consolation for all who have fallen in all conflicts and disasters. And she carried out the founder’s wish in the form of Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i on Memorial Day, 1999,” the statement said, emphasizing that the event has been staged through the years with the support of military officials, veterans and their families, as well as many others.
“We hope that by holding this ceremony, there are now so many more people in Hawaii and worldwide who have become more mindful of the importance of remembering and honoring our fallen, and have become determined to carry on with the heart of service that was embodied through their sacrifice,” it said.
Q: Will the Department of Health reinstate its daily public reporting of COVID-19 case counts?
A: No, it doesn’t plan to, said spokesman Brooks Baehr. The department “reports new COVID-19 case counts every Wednesday morning. These statewide and island-by-island COVID-19 counts provide ample information to establish trends. The state’s pandemic response, guidance, and recommendations are based on these trends. Weekly data and the trends they reveal provide the information members of the public need to make responsible decisions,” he said, which include wearing masks indoors, getting up to date on vaccinations, avoiding crowds and staying home when sick.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
