My friend Glenn Sears made me an offer I couldn’t refuse: a behind-the-scenes tour of Byodo-In Temple, in Kaneohe, in exchange for my taking some photos of the structure for him to hang on his wall. He met me there early one morning before it opened to the public, and I was able to capture him enjoying the buildings and grounds.

You see, Glenn had been in charge of construction for the iconic destination, nestled at the foot of the Ko‘olau Mountains on O‘ahu. The Temple was built to commemorate the centennial of the first Japanese immigrants in Hawai‘i. Construction took nearly three years, cost $2.6 million, and was dedicated in 1968 with a traditional Buddhist ceremony.

A replica of a nearly 1,000-year-old temple located in Uji, Japan, this temple features a nine-foot-tall statue of Amida Buddha, thought to be the largest figure outside of Asia.

When Glenn went to Japan to inspect the Buddha being crafted for the Windward O‘ahu location, he told the sculptor that it was too shiny. After all, it was supposed to look 1,000 years old.

To the artist’s horror, Glenn started wiping off some of the gold leaf to age it.

Most visitors think the building is made of wood, but it was actually built of concrete.  The construction methodology saved the client such significant sums of money that they decided to increase the scope of the project to include the Buddha as well as a teahouse, two-acre reflecting pond, and lush Japanese gardens.

The site is a magnet not only for TV and movie productions but also for local artists who like to use it as a colorful venue for photoshoots as well as art sales.

From an architectural photography point of view, my mission was to capture the iconic setting (without any visitors) in the hour we had before the tour buses rolled in. Here are a few images, shot with my trusty Olympus OM-D and a 12-100mm zoom lens. Luckily, the windward skies cooperated.