9. Fukushima Lantern
This large Kasuga lanterns arrived by cadet training ship in 1967 and was placed in 1968 as part of the Gannenmomo centennial. The lantern is the gift of the Governor of Fukushima, Morie Kimura. Members of Fukushima Kenjin Kai come every year in early July to clean the lantern and celebrate Tanabata.
The Gannenmono were a group of approximately 150 Japanese who emigrated to Hawai’i in 1868. They served as workers on sugar plantations. Some of them became the first to settle in Hawaiʻi, and today we call them gannenmono (lit. “people of the first year”) because of their departure from Japan and arrival in Hawai’i in 1868, the first year (gannen) of the new era of Meiji. Liliʻuokalani Gardens, as well as many other parts of Hawaiʻi, shares and celebrates the Japanese culture brought initially by the Gannenmono.
Kasuga lanterns are stone lanterns, reminiscent of those at the Kasuga Shrine, in Nara, Japan. The Kasuga Grand Shrine is a Shinto shrine located among a grove of trees. The Shinto religion deeply connected to nature. Lanterns are symbolic of illumination and of guidance. Even though a path may be messy and winding, with lanterns, we are able to find our way. The form of this Kasuga lantern has a cylindrical shaft, with a hexagonal base and platform ornamented with lotus petal designs, supporting a hexagonal hibukuro, or fire-box.
During the annual Tanabata Festival in July, the Fukushima Kenjinkai cleans their lantern and places a piece of bamboo nearby to accept wishes.
