It was built in 1931, and is the only Christian church in the United States designed to look like a 16th-century Japanese castle.

In 1903, Takie Okumura, a pastor from Japan, left his congregation at the Honolulu Japanese Christian Church (now the Nuuanu Congregational Church) to start the Aiyū kai.

[1] On April 8, 1904, Takie Okumura founded the Makiki Church, but there wasn't an actual building until a few years later.

[2] Okumura chose the design to symbolize peace and protection, though at the time it was criticized because it was misunderstood to represent militarism.

[3] It is the only church in the United States that has been designed to look like an Edo period Japanese castle.