Enter Stanward Oshiro’s home this month, and be careful not to step on lights. ADVERTISING Enter Stanward Oshiro’s home this month, and be careful not to step on lights. The front door of the 41-year-old’s rambler-style abode in Puna is
Enter Stanward Oshiro’s home this month, and be careful not to step on lights.
The front door of the 41-year-old’s rambler-style abode in Puna is snaked in horizontal strands of LED pixels. Strings, cords and white-framed figurines envelop most of the house’s exterior and lawn, and a 17-foot-tall, star-topped Christmas tree stands proudly installed out front.
During the day, it might not look like much beyond a scramble of metal, cords and bulbs. But when the sun sets, those figurines begin flashing, the tree sparkles a brilliant rainbow of colors and Oshiro’s house becomes the backdrop for a full-out light extravaganza expertly synchronized to more than 35-minutes of holiday tunes.
It’s Oshiro’s annual Punalights Christmas light show, a spectacle that’s evoked oohs and aahs from island residents — some driving from as far as Kona and Waimea — for nearly a decade.
Oshiro, an electrical engineer at Hawaii Electric Light Co., spends thousands of dollars each year purchasing new lights. He drains nearly all of his yearly company vacation time in November to complete the setup. He even loses about 20 pounds most holiday seasons — a result of being too preoccupied to eat regular meals and “running around and literally sweating” most nights while directing traffic for onlookers.
He says it’s well worth it. He doesn’t collect money — instead he requests donations for the Food Basket, Hawaii Island’s food bank. Since 2011, he’s raised more than $6,000 for the nonprofit and nearly 5,500 pounds of food.
But the greatest reward, Oshiro says, is watching jaws drop each night, seeing ear-to-ear smiles on keiki and getting those simple “thank yous” from onlookers.
“It’s the effect it has on the community,” he said. “It’s when you’re out there, doing traffic control and you get to meet the people watching and you can tell they’re genuinely grateful for something like this that they can do for free with their kids. People tell me, ‘This is a tradition in my family to come out and do this every Christmas.’ And I tell them, ‘Well, it’s a family tradition of mine to come out and put on a light show.’ So, that’s my number one motivation.”
Oshiro’s aware of a scattering of other synchronized holiday light shows around the island, but he thinks his was first. He got started in 2008, inspired after watching a YouTube video of a show on the mainland. He purchased a simple starter kit that year and scoured online forums for tips from other light enthusiasts.
He says soon he was hooked.
“It’s a hobby that’s so addictive,” Oshiro said. “That’s the problem. Each year you want to do better so you keep adding more to try and outdo yourself. It’s not really competing with others, it’s competing with yourself. You want to make the display better and better.”
Oshiro installs about 90 percent of the physical show himself, a process that takes him a full 20, eight-hour days in November. He also handles most of the programming. Syncing music to the lights — done using a computer software system — is painstaking, he explains, because programming just one minute of a song takes about six hours. His show has been as long as 60 minutes in years past.
He also programs the show to an FM transmitter that allows spectators to listen in from inside their car.
People often inquire about his electric bill, but he insists it’s not that much — maybe a $200 increase for the month of December. And that includes winter heating costs for his home and additional halogen and motion lights to guide visitors of the show around the property.
The light show itself probably accounts for “maybe $50 to $100 more than normal,” he said.
“It’s not too bad,” he said. “When people see the massive amounts of lights, they think ‘Oh, your bill must be really high.’ But actually it’s not, the lights aren’t a static display where they’re on for hours constantly.”
But Oshiro says he does spend big bucks most years on upgrades. This year, he estimates he spent up to $4,000 converting a standard system to a new pixelated, LED system that gives “a lot more control” and allows for “more elaborate effects.”
“I’m already hearing from people, ‘Oh, it’s better than last year,’” he said.
Oshiro doesn’t track visitors, but he estimates the yearly total easily exceeds a thousand. On popular nights — for example when public schools close for Christmas — a line of up to 80 cars can extend out his neighborhood and onto the main road.
He says the neighbors don’t mind. In fact, several, including longtime neighbor Kit Carson, now help Oshiro and his family direct traffic each night. Carson said Friday he enjoys mingling with the neighborhood during the light show each year and meeting “all kinds of people” who come to watch.
“I enjoy just getting outside and seeing all the people with smiles on their face,” Carson said. “It helps me get out and not sit inside and watch TV every night. (And) I get to see (the show) every night.”
For neighbor Ang Ota, living across from Oshiro was actually a bonus when deciding to buy her home four years ago.
She and her partner had seen his show in prior years and were blown away. Now, she said her family enjoys a prime viewing spot from their living room and typically watch several times each year.
“I think it’s an awesome thing for the community,” Ota said Friday.
“We’re just very impressed with all the work he puts into it. It’s amazing.”
Oshiro admits he has moments of frustration — a lack of sleep, losing weight each year and installing lights during inclement weather such as heavy rain brought on by the wet season.
Occasionally, when feeling particularly defeated, he’s even thought about quitting. But he said his wife is always quick to encourage him and any negativity eventually “goes away with time.”
“My coworkers always (ask me), ‘Wow, are you still doing it?’” he said. “And I tell them ‘Yes.’ I can see myself when I’m 70 years old up on the roof putting lights up or taking them down. I’m hoping my daughters will get into a techy field someday and maybe want to do the show themselves, but if not, I’ll be out there when I’m 70 putting this stuff out. So, in other words, yes — I see myself doing this for a long time.”
For more information about Oshiro’s show, visit facebook.com/punalights.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
