WAILUA — Fire attracted hundreds to various parts of Wailua Saturday to watch as firefighters worked to extinguish a brush fire. On Sunday, fire of a different type saw spectators line the bank of Wailua River as Kapa‘a Jodo Mission
WAILUA — Fire attracted hundreds to various parts of Wailua Saturday to watch as firefighters worked to extinguish a brush fire.
On Sunday, fire of a different type saw spectators line the bank of Wailua River as Kapa‘a Jodo Mission hosted its annual toro nagashi ceremony.
A flotilla of lanterns made its way upriver before swinging around and traversing its way along the banks before heading out to open ocean.
The toro, a paper lantern, represents the soul of a departed one. As the line of glimmering paper lanterns floated by, a young girl called out, “Goodbye, Grandma.”
The girl was securely nestled against her home, her face illuminated by chochin, another type of paper lantern.
The toro nagashi, according to the Wikipedia Web site, represents the end of o-bon season for some of the Buddhist sects. The ceremony marks the departure of deceased souls back to the “other world” after being reunited with living relatives during the o-bon season.
Some Japanese believe that we come from water, so the lanterns represent our bodies returning to water as the toro make their way to the sea, the Wikipedia Web site states.
Kapa‘a Jodo Mission celebrated its bon dance, or a time when deceased ancestors’ souls are reunited with their living kin, two weekends ago.
The ceremony can be done on other days of the year for similar reasons. This was demonstrated by the hosting of a toro nagashi at Magic Island on O‘ahu during the Memorial Day weekend when several thousand toro were released into the ocean.
Bon season continues on Kaua‘i with this week’s bon dances hosted by the Kapa‘a Hongwanji Mission on Friday and Saturday.
