First Place | Geraldine Anne Agag
Geraldine Anne Agaga is a senior at Sacred Hearts Academy. This is her fourth year entering an essay into the Cherry Blossom Festival contest. When notified about winning first place, she was very thrilled and flabbergasted. She is a member of her school's LIFE team, president of their Key Club, and an active member of the National Honor Society. In the future, she plans to pursure a career as either a pharmasist or a physical therapist.
"What one facet of Japanese culture in Hawaii has had the greatest evolution over the past 100 years? How does it reflect the everchanging needs of the Japanese people of Hawaii? How will it continue to evolve in the future?"
Honoring Our Family
Toro Nagashi is a beautiful Japanese tradition that has become a significant aspect of life in Hawaii over the years. This tradition is related to Obon, the Japanese summer festival which lasts three days and honors the lives of those whose souls have left the earth. In Japan, this custom has been passed down and practiced for hundreds of years. Many Japanese believe that we evolve from water and so when we die, we return to the water. In Hawaii Toro Nagashi is reflected in the annual Lantern Floating ceremony on Memorial day. When literally translated, the term Toro Nagashi means "lantern offerings on water."
While the origins of this ceremony are rooted in Buddhist customs, Hawaii's version represents the Islands' assortment of faiths and backgrounds because this tradition does not discriminate against one's religious beliefs or ethnicity. It is open to everyone who wants to participate, regardless of race or religion. Ceremonies within the past years have featured a mixture of Hawaiian chant, hula and Japanese Taiko drumming. Although this tradition is still fairly new to Hawaii, honoring past loved ones is not unknown to many people. This tradition allows us to pay tribute to our deceased openly while empathizing with others who also participate in this ceremony. Though this custom is rather inchoate in Hawaii, it has evolved into a big event with more participants joining each year.
At this beautiful service, participants write the names of their deceased loved ones on lanterns before setting them free into the ocean. The lanterns float to honor and recall those who have sacrificed their lives for their county, loved ones who have passed away and victims of natural disasters, war and famine. At sunset every year on Memorial Day, this service allows people to pray for future peace and harmony. These lanterns also symbolize the hope for a peaceful and harmonious future for those who left us. Another reason this ceremony is so meaningful has to do with its way of uniting people. It allows many to come together to learn the value of life while trying to create a better loving world.
Moving to a new country is always difficult. One always wishes they could bring a piece of home along with them. This lantern festival is that piece of home that the Japanese can experience in Hawaii. Visitors from the mainland, Europe, and elsewhere come to Hawaii particularly for this service. Sometimes, all people want and need is a sense of belonging. When local people take part in this ceremony alongside the Japanese, they are welcoming Japanese culture into their lives and displaying their openness towards the Japanese way of life. Each individual who participates in this ceremony brings with them memories and hopes. The lantern floating ceremony reflects the Japanese people's need for an enviornment in which they can offer reverence for their ancestors and pay respect.
Since this ceremony is relatively new to Hawaii, there is the possibility of it evolving into a much larger service. Within the next coupld of years, maybe the Obon tradition itself, being the backbone of Toro Nagashi, will be brought to Hawaii and there would be a full three day period to honor people, similar to that held in the summer in Japan. This service will continue to evolve because everyone benifits in some way through writing the names of their loved ones on a lantern representing their remembrance of them and have that feeling of relief, peace and fulfillment after having participated in such a ceremony.
Toro Nagashi is a beautiful service that enhanced local veneration not only for one's own ancestors, but it also teaches people about dignity and humanity. There is great meaning associated with a lantern floating on water, as it represents a life moving on to a greater and eternal life.