Strings of lighted paper lanterns will decorate the parking lot of Honoka‘a Hongwanji Buddhist Temple on Saturday, July 19, in preparations for the Community Memorial Service and Bon Dance. The space will fill with people in their colorful happi coats, dancing in a large circle around the central Yagura tower, to the rhythm of taiko drums (by Taishoji Taiko Drum group of Hilo).

Everyone is invited to join both the service and the dancing.

The Memorial Service takes place in the Social Hall at 5:30 p.m., where names of loved ones lost in the last year are read aloud, and family and friends invited to step forward and symbolically offer incense in their memory. Anyone—regardless of faith—is encouraged to participate. Please submit names by email to info@honokaahongwanjibuddhisttemple.org .

The Bon Dance follows, at 7 p.m. in the temple parking lot.

The centuries-old custom came to Hawai‘i from Japan along with sugar cane plantation workers in the 19 th Century. Friends and relatives of the recently deceased return to their hometown in the summer, and the Obon Festival has become a combination of ancient traditions celebrating a release from sufferings, combined with the joy of a summer reunion for families, friends and the broader community.