Today is Memorial Day in the United States. Memorial Day is the day we show honor, hanohano (pronounced: hah-no hah-no) in Hawaiian, to military personnel who have lost their lives serving and providing us with the freedoms we all benefit from daily.

Hawaii has a very unique way of showing hanohano. Each Memorial Day, the Shinnyo Lantern Floating event takes place at Ala Moana Beach on Oahu. Each year, thousands of people come to the event and create a floating lantern in honor of a loved one. At sundown, after a ceremony, people set their lanterns into the ocean. It is the most moving ceremony and I livestream it when I can’t be there in person.

Due to the global pandemic, the event has not happened since 2019. This year’s event has also been canceled, however there will be a special event being livestreamed from Oahu. For more information on watching this event, go to the Lantern Floating Hawaii website at www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com.

How will you be showing hanohano this Memorial Day?

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