[1] In 1903, Matsue Chiya, an immigrant from Kōchi Prefecture founded the shrine on Aala Lane.

[2]: 198  With the onset of World War II, the shrine's building and property was confiscated by the United States government.

The Japanese community survived the war and moved the shrine to a temporary location in 1947.

Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō was worshiped by members of the Imperial Japanese Navy and local Japanese-Americans.

This has prompted scholars to consider Shinto in Hawaii as a new American religion rather than a diaspora tradition.