One of the great things about visiting Hawaii is that you not only can experience influences from the Hawaiian culture but those of many Asian cultures as well. One such experience happened yesterday, the annual Memorial Day Lantern Floating Ceremony.
The Memorial Day Lantern Floating Ceremony comes from a Japanese ceremony with Buddhist origins in which participants launch lanterns into the water to mark the end of the Obon festival season. (The Obon festival is an event in which Buddhists pay homage to their deceased ancestors.) Lantern floating has become an Asian spiritual tradition which symbolizes the wish for all people to coexist together. In Hawaii this ceremony has been symbolic to remember loved ones who are deceased; it is the belief that the lanterns once released into the ocean will take with them prayers or wishes.
The ceremony is led by Her Holiness Keishu Shinso, the spiritual head of Shinnyo-en. The lanterns become available earlier in the day and people are able to inscribe personal handwritten messages to their loved ones. Monetary donations are voluntary and lanterns are available on a first-come first-served basis. The event takes place at Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach Park.
This year’s ceremony was attended by over 40,000 people in and more than 2000 lanterns were released into the ocean. It’s a beautiful sight to see what happens right at sunset. As night approaches the lanterns begin to glow in the distance which becomes a truly beautiful experience. Hawaii is such a multicultural place and lantern floating brings people from all cultures, nations and faiths together.
From festivals to parades, there are events like this and more take place all year round on the islands. If you need more information about when events are taking place, we will keep you posted here on this blog. Also feel free to give us a call and we’ll be happy to let you know what cultural experiences are happening during your Hawaii vacation.
Related Blog Posts:
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Honolulu Festival
Merrie Monarch Festival on the Big Island
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Posted by Bruce Fisher
@AlohaBruce
Published by Bruce Fisher
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
May 26th, 2009
When you visit Hawaii, you’ll have ample opportunities to learn how to hula. If you already have learned the traditional dance, this is a good time to be here and indulge your interest.
The annual Invitational Hula Festival was held November 6-8 at the Waikiki Shell. Hula artists from 16 countries have assembled to celebrate everything natural in Hawaiian culture: costume, language, music and dance. Performances, although judged by 21 of hula’s most prestigious keepers of the art, remains a continuous cultural education and spiritual discipline.
Then, on November 13-15, the17th the annual World International Waikiki Hula Conference took place which is a rare opportunity to come to Hawaii to learn, share and experience the hula firsthand, with a variety of respected hula masters, many of whom do not travel outside Hawaii to teach. This all will all take place again next year, so you can give it a try on your Hawaiian Vacation.
Hula, while unique to the Hawaiian Islands, is taught worldwide in schools called halau. Hula is a very complex art form, and there are many hand motions used to signify aspects of nature, such as the basic Hula and Coconut Tree motions, or the basic leg steps such as the Kaholo, Ka’o, and Ami. If you’d like to take up the dance – or at least investigate its intricacies – go to www.mele.com and click on Halau Hula Listings.
If you’d like to attend either of the foregoing events, pick an agent from our Web site or call 1-800-843-8771.
Published by Bruce Fisher
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
December 23rd, 2008
In Downtown Honolulu, a small cluster of houses holds some of Hawaii’s most significant history. Unfortunately, it often is overlooked by visitors whose attention in the area tends to focus on Iolani Palace, Kawaiahao Church, the Kamehameha statue, the state capitol and Chinatown.
The Mission Houses, which were the original headquarters of the Sandwich Islands Mission, are the oldest structures in Honolulu and provide a link to an era of enormous cultural change in the islands. Missionaries from New England began to arrive in Hawaii in 1820 determined to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity.
King Kamehameha II viewed the missionaries with mistrust. He imposed a one-year limit to their stay and confined them this then- barren place between Waikiki and Downtown in which to live. They managed to construct only a few grass huts there, which afforded them little shelter and the dry earth made farming on a large scale impossible.
The Frame House on the grounds was shipped around Cape Horn from Boston in 1820 and is the oldest wood house in Hawaii. The Chamberlain House, built of coral blocks in 1831, was both a family home and storehouse for mission supplies. The third building, also of coral blocks, was completed in 1841. Today, it functions as the Printing Office. A working replica of the first printing press to be brought to Hawaii is demonstrated there on a regular basis.
The missionaries are remembered in two lights. They are respected for having created an alphabet that preserved the Hawaiian language, which had hitherto been spoken and sung only. But it also can be said that their spreading of Christianity contributed to the deterioration of the Hawaiian culture.
Few of the original furnishings have survived, although two large desks from the 1830s (sent to Honolulu from Boston) and a rocking chair still exist. Two hurricane lamps from New England, almost 250 years old, can also be seen.
Tours are available at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Groups of more than six should call (808) 531-0481 for reservations.
If you like, we’ll arrange to include a tour in your Hawaii vacation plans. Pick an agent from our Web site home page (Hawaii-aloha.com), or call 1-800-843-8771.
Published by Bruce Fisher
Since 2006 Bruce Fisher has been publishing the Hawaii Vacation Blog and the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. This Blog is the only online resource providing Hawaii-based information aimed at travelers seven days per week. postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
November 6th, 2008
