The Byodo-In Temple, Oahu, HI

The Byodo-In Temple is a non-practicing Buddhist temple in a Hawaiian cemetery, built in 1968, and commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. It's a smaller-scale replica of a 950-year-old temple in Uji, Japan. And, like the original temple, it is built without a single nail.

The TV series Hawaii Five-O and Magnum, P.I. featured episodes where the temple is incorporated into the plot. The temple and its gardens also appeared in an episode of the ABC series Lost, "House of the Rising Sun" in season one as the home of Sun's father. You can even have your wedding here if you wish.


It's home to peacocks and hundreds of hungry koi, which pretty much follow you around the lake hoping you'll have some food. Another great feature of the park is a huge bell that you can ring with the help of a roped log. For some reason, I didn't get a photo of it. Every visitor is encouraged to bang the bell, so you hear the low hum of the bell consistently while you walk around the temple.

One of the first things you come across is this "autograph tree" (Clusia Rosea). I didn't get a close-up of the leaves, but people scratch names of loved ones into the thick hardy leaves. Every leaf had multiple names. I suspect, it was not loved ones being memorialized, but tourists adding their names. Vandals.

Hawaii has these beautiful pine trees with a unique branching structure.

Always intrigued by a paperbark tree.

A grove of MASSIVE bamboo. The noise of them stretching, reaching, and clacking in the wind was ever-present.

And, of course, people had to scratch their names on these too.

They're about the tallest bamboo I've ever seen.

Great example of a Travelers Palm (is not really a palm--it’s related to bananas and  Bird-of-Paradise). The leaves collect water and channel it into the base of the plant -- a thirsty traveler could cut a hole in the soft trunk and get a significant amount of drinkable water—about one liter per branch. And, it tends to grow in an east-west direction,, so it can also serve as a compass.

Inside the temple is an immense golden Buddha.