Temples

See the Japanese design influence in the new Okinawa temple as interior, exterior photos are released

Following its Nov. 12 dedication, the house of the Lord in Okinawa will become Japan’s fourth operating temple

By Scott Taylor Sept 20, 2023 9:03 p.m. EDT

Temples

See the Japanese design influence in the new Okinawa temple as interior, exterior photos are released

Following its Nov. 12 dedication, the house of the Lord in Okinawa will become Japan’s fourth operating temple

By Scott Taylor Sept 20, 2023 9:03 p.m. EDT

The Okinawa Japan Temple — to be dedicated later this fall as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ fourth house of the Lord in Japan and its 186th worldwide — is now open to the public, with the Church offering photos of the new temple.

The interior and exterior photographs were released Thursday morning, Sept. 21, in Okinawa in conjunction with the start of the temple’s media day. Because of the time differences and international date line, the images were published Wednesday evening, Sept. 20, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

The celestial room of the Okinawa Japan Temple.

The media day and ensuing special-guest tours are in advance of the temple’s public open house, which runs Saturday, Sept. 23, through Saturday, Oct. 7, excluding Sundays. Free reservations for tours are available at OkinawaTemple.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

The dedication of the Okinawa Japan Temple is scheduled for two sessions on Sunday, Nov. 12, with Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presiding.

President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Okinawa on April 7, 2019, during general conference. Elder Takashi Wada, a General Authority Seventy serving as Asia North Area president, presided at the temple’s Dec. 5 groundbreaking and offered the dedicatory prayer.

A sealing room inside the Okinawa Japan Temple.

The two-story, 12,437-square-foot building sits on a 0.55-acre site at 7-11-32, Matsumoto, Okinawa-shi, Okinawa-ken, Japan. A patron waiting area was added in 2013 to an adjacent meetinghouse as part of the construction project.

The temple will be the fourth house of the Lord in the Asian island nation, following the Tokyo Japan Temple (dedicated in 1980) and the Fukuoka Japan (2000) and Sapporo Japan (2016) temples.

The Church in Okinawa

While the first missionaries arrived in Tokyo in 1901, the Church didn’t have a presence in Okinawa and the surrounding Ryukyu Islands until the 1940s, when World War II brought American servicemen in 1945. Latter-day apostles Elder Neal A. Maxwell and President Boyd K. Packer, both of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, were serviceman on Okinawa after the war and spoke about their personal spiritual experiences there.

The baptistry of the Okinawa Japan Temple.

Regular church meetings and conferences were first held at Kadena Air Base and later at the Camp Kuwae chapel, with Okinawa added to the Japanese Mission in 1951. The Okinawa Servicemen’s District — created 1952 — is now the still-operating Okinawa Japan Military District.

On Aug. 14, 1955, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles formally dedicated Okinawa for the preaching of the gospel, with the first Japanese members baptized on Okinawa on Christmas Day later that year and the first missionaries arriving the following spring.

In the 1960s, the Church saw its first Japanese branch president called in 1961 and a year later its first Japanese district president. The first full-size chapel opened in 1966.

President Ezra Taft Benson, then president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, organized the Japanese-speaking Okinawa Japan Stake in 1980, comprised of nearly 1,900 Japanese Latter-day Saints.

The stair hall of the Okinawa Japan Temple.

For several decades, the closest temple for Church members on Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands was the Laie Hawaii Temple, until the Tokyo temple was dedicated in 1980. Other houses of the Lord used by Okinawa Latter-day Saints included the Manila Philippines and Taipei Taiwan temples until the Fukuoka temple was dedicated in 2000 about 600 miles away from Okinawa, which has remained that temple’s district ever since.

Today, Okinawa is home to the Japanese-speaking stake and English-speaking district, which combine for 5,500 Latter-day Saints in 12 congregations. As a country, Japan is home to over 130,000 Church members in more than 260 congregations.

Exterior features

The temple’s exterior reflects Japanese and Okinawan architecture, ranging from the floral designs to the stone detail suggesting traditional shibi Japanese roof tiles.

The floral bands on the exterior of the Okinawa Japan Temple reflect Okinawa’s tree blossoms.

The segmented exterior arches over the windows hint of the portals in traditional stone walls like those at the Shurijo Castle, Nakagusuku Castle and Sogenji Temple. The floral bands connecting the arches reflect the traditional karamon (gate) found in important Japanese gateways.

The exterior features Sunset Gold Chinese granite, while the exterior art glass has been inspired by traditional Okinawan bingata stencils and patterns.

And the grounds’ landscaping includes many native plants, such as fountain palms, sago palms and Chinese hibiscus. A traditional Japanese rock garden is found behind the temple.

The Japanese rock garden behind the Okinawa Japan Temple.

Interior features

The flooring throughout the temple is a mix of stone, porcelain and ceramic tiles and area rugs. The stone is Branco do Mar limestone from Portugal. Decorative paint features geometric flower patterns in gold, blue and white.

An instruction room in the Okinawa Japan Temple.

The interior art glass highlights bingata artwork, with three panes of painted glass. Each pane is painted with a different design, resulting in difference appearances whether the art glass is viewed from outside or inside the temple. The outer pane is painted with blue and lavender flowers with green leaves, while the inner pane features a dark-blue drape descending from the top of the window.

The stair hall is an origami-inspired feature, with the second floor folding down to the first floor and appearing to float from the adjacent wall. The elements are precisely aligned and paired to make the stair to appear visually as light as possible.

The entry and recommend desk of the Okinawa Japan Temple.

Decorative lighting fixtures include geometric floral and weave patterns, while the interior doors are made of stained European beach.

In the ordinance rooms, the decorative millwork panels feature beech wood and stone paneling, with stone window surrounds. The patterning on the paneled walls suggests the grid patterns often found in Japanese architecture and interior design.