Volunteers make final preparations for 2024 Shinnyo Lantern Floating

HONOLULU (KHON2) — It’s an annual event that draws over 40 thousand people to Ala Moana Beach Park each year. The Shinnyo Lantern Floating brings people from all walks of life to pay tribute to loved ones on Memorial Day. But before the ceremony, comes the preparations.

“After every year, we collect all the lanterns from the ocean and we take it back to the temple,” explained Craig Yamamoto, Shinnyo-en Hawaii Reverend. “We do a prayer for the requests and then next year, we need to prepare the lanterns again.”

On Saturday, dozens of volunteers came together to get ready for this year’s ceremony.

“Some of the requests that we receive from the public, they’re applying or sticking them onto the wooden lanterns. We also have requests through the online submissions, which they’re transcribing onto the prayer request forms and that we’re also putting onto the wooden lanterns,” he added.

It’s been a tradition for some volunteers to help prepare this event for the last two decades. Some have volunteered ever since the ceremony started in 1999 at Keehi Lagoon and have seen it grown into what it is today.

“There were about 750 lanterns and there were about 5,000 people that attended,” said Yamamoto. “Now, when we go to the Ala Moana Beach, it’s about 40,000 people and about 6,000 lanterns that we float.”

Once the lanterns are prepped, the volunteers will take the lanterns down to Ala Moana Beach Park on Memorial Day, where they will be reunited with loved ones.

Volunteers said they look forward to seeing “Many Rivers, One Ocean” become a reality every year.

“It just shows the universal heart of all human beings. It doesn’t matter what race, culture, or religion we all have the same heart of wanting to extend ourselves our prayers for our loved ones that have passed on,” said volunteer Harold Karimoto.

The Shinnyo Lantern Floating will take place on Memorial Day, May 27, at Ala Moana Beach Park. We will broadcast it live on KHON2, KHII and the CW at 6:30 p.m.