Daifukuji Soto Zen Mission

The Daifukuji Sōtō Mission (Japanese: 大福寺) is a Zen Buddhist temple on the island of Hawaiʻi established in 1914 .

In 1914 Reverend Kaiseki Kodama arrived in Kona and held services at the former Hanato Store which was located across the street from the present temple.

The temple is a blend of traditional Japanese architectural forms adapted to local Hawaiian building methods.

It was designed by first-generation immigrant (Issei) Yoshisuke Sasaki who owned a store nearby in Keauhou,[3] and constructed by head carpenter Teruyoshi Ikenouchi and others.

An alcove to the right of the main altar has two more figures: Bodai Daruma Daishi (Bodhidharma), who carried teachings from India to China, and Daigen Shuri Bosatsu, another bodhisattva.

Reverend Hozui Nakayama, the minister at the temple was arrested and sent to the mainland as part of the Japanese American internment.