In 1990, Hawaii’s Bishop Museum sponsored a contest to rename a local phenomenon. Instead of calling the occurrence kau ka lā i ka lolo, the celestial event became Lahaina Noon. In other words, “the sun rests on the brain” was changed to “cruel sun” noon. Neither phrase aptly describes what happens, although the first, the oldest, may be closer to the truth.

Hawaii is the only US state situated in the true tropics. Sitting between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, Hawaii, along with other tropical points on the globe, experiences a Lahaina Noon twice a year. This observable event occurs close to summer solstice, when the apparent path of the sun is directly overhead. At that time, in those places, any object standing straight up, such as a flagpole, will not, cannot, cast a shadow.

To complicate matters, each Hawaiian Island experiences Lahaina Noon at a different time. In 2022, the first Lahaina Noon for Lihu’e, Kauai was May 30, at 12.35 p.m., with the second happening on July 11, at 12:43 p.m. Hilo, Hawaii got their first Lahaina Noon on May 18, at 12:17 p.m. but had to wait until July 24, at 12:27 p.m. for their second one. All this makes sense when you think about earth’s travels around the sun, and its tilt and rotation while traveling.

To celebrate Hawaii’s Lahaina Noon, the clever artist and landscape architect, Isamu Noguchi, designed Sky Gate, a huge tripod-like metal sculpture that sits on an Oahu lawn between the Honolulu Municipal Building and the Mission Memorial Auditorium.

The massive piece of art, 24 feet tall at its highest point, holds a twice yearly surprise, which was never mentioned by the artist during installation. At Lahaina Noon, the bumpy, lumpy, curvy piece of metal impossibly casts a perfectly round shadow on the concrete apron underneath. It makes you wonder how long it took the artist to get it right, and even, what made him think of creating such a piece in the first place.

We should thank him for his originality. For now at every Lahaina Noon, people gather together at Sky Gate. There you may hear a traditional chant, or watch new customs being developed. Much like other observances at ancient sites such as Stonehenge, Hawaii’s Sky Gate acknowledges, and celebrates the cosmos, as well as our place in it.

Only this one’s better, because it takes place in Hawaii.