Lantern Floating Hawaii 2015
Photo by Trenton Kakazu
An estimated 50,000 people from around the globe came to Magic Island to remember their loved ones at the 17th Annual Lantern Floating Hawaii ceremony, a beautiful, emotional event made possible by the Shinnyo-en Buddhist Temple and its head, Her Holiness Shinso Ito. The program included hula, Hawaiian chants, taiko drumming and the symbolic torch lighting of the Light of Harmony by key leaders of the community. At the end of the program, in a longstanding Buddhist tradition honoring the souls of the departed, lanterns were set afloat from the shore, bearing with them the hopes, well wishes and remembrances of those present.
Photos by Tracy Chan and Trenton Kakazu.
