Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i

Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi is Honolulu’s Memorial Day evening ceremony for remembrance and gratitude, held at Ala Moana Beach Park. You gather on the shoreline as the Shinnyo-en Buddhist order hosts a program that blends Japanese and Hawaiian traditions, including the sounding of the conch shell, Shinnyo Taiko drumming, and hula, before thousands of candlelit lanterns move out across the Pacific.

You arrive to a reflective, multi-generational crowd, with space for both public ceremony and private intention. During the afternoon, you can write messages of love, thanks, or hope on a lantern, then watch as community leaders light the Guiding Lanterns and Her Holiness Shinso Ito offers a formal blessing. At sunset, the release begins and the ocean becomes a wide field of light, a quiet way to honor fallen service members and departed loved ones at the close of the holiday weekend.

Plan for logistics early. Go to the Lantern Request Tent between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM for an individual lantern, distributed first come, first served, and note that lanterns are free. Parking at Magic Island is limited, so many people use paid parking at Ala Moana Center and walk over. Bring a beach blanket, water, and sunscreen for the wait, expect dense crowds, and know that rain usually does not stop the ceremony, though strong winds or surf can change the lantern release.

If you cannot attend, you can submit messages in advance for the Collective Remembrance Lanterns online. For the simplest access, stay in Ala Moana or Waikīkī so you can walk or take a short ride to the park, and consider vacation rentals if you are traveling as a group. Pets are best left at home given the size of the crowd and the tone of the ceremony, and after the event, volunteer canoe crews retrieve all lanterns from the water for cleaning and reuse.