Byodo-In Temple

The Byodo-In Temple was established on June7,1968 to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. It is actually a scale replica of a temple built in Uji Japan that was contructed 900 years ago. Admission costs 3$ for adults and 1$  for children 12 and under. Free with an additional 15% off anything in the giftshop if you use the Go Oahu Card.

Byodo-In was built to represent the mythical phoenix, its wings upheld by pillar and stone. According to Japanese folklore, the phoenix arising from the ashes represents hope and renewel.

 

My daughter gave a coin to a Buddah statue. There were several Buddah statues located on the grounds and one giant golden carved Buddah more then 18 feet in the temple itself.

Factoids about the Byodo-In.

This is the entrance to the insense sented temple. As a sign of respect visitors must remove their shoes before entering.

  The gold Buddah is an original work of art created by a famous Japanese sculptor named Masuzo Inui. After the carving was completed, it was covered with three applications of golden laquer.

Outside of the temple is nice gift shop where they sell  local souvenirs and Asian art.

They also sell bird and koi fish food for just 1$. Free for military.

     Feeding the fish was a hit with my daughter. What a great inexpensive way to entertain the family.

The grounds of the Byodo-In are meticulously maintained, peaceful, and absolutely beautiful.

 This curious black swan approached us as we were feeding the fish. There are signs warning about hand feeding the swans and peacocks throughout the premises. Use caution and common sense with the kids around these beautiful animals.

Interesting bamboo forest with autographs from visitors around the world. Personally I don't see the cause in defacing trees and plants, but it seems to be popular around the island.

If you look closely at the "autograph tree" you will see carvings of names in the leaves.

The famed Koa wood. Koa is a source of wood for a variety of handcrafted goods from Hawaii such as bowls, artwork, paddles,

 and ukuleles.

The Bell House, called kanetsu-ki-do, contains a five foot high, three ton brass bell, called bon-sho (sacred bell), cast in Osaka, Japan from a mixture of bronze and tin, by permission of the government of Japan.

It is revered for its distinctive shape and tone of the bell which sounds a message of deep calm peace to create an atmosphere of tranquility for meditation.Visitors are welcome to use the soft wooden log to create a gong like sound.

Apparently fish feeding is hit with all the kids. Kaylyn made some new friends feeding the koi.

  

 The Byodo-In temple is one of Oahu's best kept secrets. This is a great place to spend a quiet afternoon with the family and experience an exotic Asian temple right here in the USA. Make sure to bring some mosquito repellant if you wear shorts. The Byodo-In is open until 5pm and will take about 15 minutes to drive to from Waikiki.

I recommend using the Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic  to find the address of Byodo-In Temple located at 47-200 Kahekili Highway, Kanohe 96744. If you dont have this GPS I highly recommend getting it. It is portable so you can take it with you whenever you travel and it saves the frustration of finding places like this that are off the beaten path.