Imamura Emyô was one of the first Buddhist priests to help establish Japanese Buddhism in Hawaii. A priest of the Jôdo Shinshû sect originally from Fukui prefecture, he arrived in Hawaii in 1899, taking over the Honpa Hongwanji Mission established the previous year by Satomi Hôni. This was the first Japanese Buddhist temple established in Hawaii.
Imamura played a prominent role in fostering the Japanese Buddhist community in Honolulu, but also reached out to the non-Japanese community, in English, in order to encourage others to join the congregation.
In 1918, Imamura oversaw the construction of a new temple building near the Pali Highway, thus relocating the mission from its previous location on Fort Street. This new building, which still stands today, was built in an architectural style emulating that of Indian temples, making it a particularly striking part of Honolulu's architectural history.
References
- Franklin Odo and Kazuko Sinoto, A Pictorial History of the Japanese in Hawaii 1885-1924, Bishop Museum (1985), 106, 112.