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  • The Byodo-In Temple in O'ahu, Hawaii.

  • I'm Chris, this is the Traveling Princess, and this is part of our series on some of the off-the-beaten-path attractions on O'ahu.

  • If you've seen all the big things, you've seen Waikiki, you've seen the blow hole, here's some things you might wanna see.

  • And it starts with the Byodo-In Temple.

  • So, this temple is on the other side of the island from Waikiki.

  • So, it's about a 30-minute drive from Waikiki, but what is this temple?

  • It is a replica of a 900-year-old temple of the same name, originally in Kyoto, Japan.

  • The original one was made entirely of wood with no nails.

  • This one was built in 1968, primarily of concrete.

  • Now, when you're driving here, put Google Maps in, you're gonna drive through a cemeterythat's the right way to get here, that's right back there.

  • Now to come in here, $5 admission per adult; you cross this really neat red bridge, and then we're gonna get to something really cool that you might've heard in the background already.

  • And it's the sound of the sacred bell.

  • This bell, a replica of the original at the Byodo-In in Kyoto.

  • A replica of one of the three most sacred bells in Japan.

  • It's believed that if you ring this on your way in, it will clear your mind of negativity and bring you peace and happiness.

  • That is definitely the sound of peace and happiness.

  • Now, before heading into the temple itself, up on the hill is the meditation pavilion.

  • If the sound of that drone is something you wish to meditate to, you can check this out.

  • It's also known as the emperor's fishing pavilion.

  • Now, right in the center of the grounds is a really big pond, and it's not any pond, but there's a whole bunch of really big koi fish in there.

  • If you like fish, check them out.

  • Even if you don't like fish, check them out, 'cause they are really big.

  • And these koi fish, they are hungry and they will eat food if you give it to them.

  • They'll be jumping out of the water for it.

  • If you wanna buy some food to feed the fish, there's a gift shop right here, just on the other side of the bridge from the temple itself.

  • If you do want to feed the fish or visit the gift shop, do it before 4:30.

  • It closes 15 minutes before the rest of the temple does.

  • Now, I wanna point out that this actually isn't a functioning temple; there's no monks here, there's no monastic group here.

  • It's just this replica and a place that you can go in to see.

  • It's been featured on Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum PI.

  • And if you want to go in the temple of the staircase, you do have to remove your shoes.

  • But I do want to point out, we are in Hawaii, and not Japan.

  • Because the sign right there says, "Aloha, please remove your slippers before entering."

  • If you haven't picked up that Hawaiian English, "slippers" is Hawaiian English for "sandals".

  • Now, as you enter into the temple, they ask you to remove your shoes and carry them with you through the temple.

  • What's in here?

  • It's a really big, 18-foot tall Buddha statue.

  • And you probably can't smell it, but a really quite strong smell of incense.

  • But if you wanna see the Buddha and you don't wanna take off your shoes, you can do that too.

  • Just walk around the outside and peek in through this door, and you can see the Buddha with your shoes on.

  • Now, in addition to koi fish, there's also wild peacocks here.

  • We didn't see any of the peacocks, but we did see a black swan.

  • There's also a lot of wild cats that live around here.

  • In addition to being just a touristy temple, it's also a really popular place for weddings.

  • So, if you're getting married, you could consider this for that event as well.

  • But if you're coming to Hawaii and you want to see more off-the-beaten-path tourist attractions, well, check out right here for my off-the-beaten-path Hawaii playlist.

  • Or see more of my Hawaii videos, like cheap eats in Waikiki, the best hotels in Waikiki.

  • You'll find those in my Hawaii playlist of all Hawaii videos in the description below.

  • As usual, we won't say goodbye, 'cause we'll see you in one of those videos.

The Byodo-In Temple in O'ahu, Hawaii.

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