Honolulu’s Byodo-In Temple pays tribute to first Japanese immigrants

You can step into Japanese (and TV) history by visiting the Byodo-In Temple in the Valley of the Temples, about 30 minutes by car from downtown Honolulu in Kaneohe.

This half-size replica of a 900-year-old temple near Kyoto, Japan, built in 1968 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii, is used for ceremonies and retreats.

Byodo-In is not an active Buddhist temple (there’s no resident monk or congregation), but no matter: Nestled at the foot of the Koolau mountains and surrounded by lush Japanese gardens and wandering white peacocks, it feels like one.

If it also feels as though you’ve seen it before, you probably have: It has been a setting for such TV classics as “Hawaii Five-O” and “Magnum, P.I.”

Soak up the serenity, ring the 3-ton peace bell, and walk in the footsteps of Danno and Magnum.