In Enryaku 24 (805), Saicho (Dengyo Daishi, the founder of Tendai Sect) placed a Yakushi Nyorai statue of his own making in the mail hall and named the temple Nofuku Gokoku Mitsu-ji Temple, thus establishing the first disciplinary holy ground in Japan. Taira-no-Kiyomori became a Buddhist priest in this temple in Jisho 4 (1180), when the capital was relocated to Fukuhara-kyo. It served as Inge-shoku (branch temple) of Kyoto Shoren-in Monzeki Temple from the early Edo era to the Meiji Restoration in 1868, holding the most prestigious status of all temples in Kyoto and the areas westward. The temple premises are home to Japan's first English monument inscribed by Joseph Hico (Hikozo Hamada, known as Father of the Newspaper), and the Hyogo Daibutsu, one of the three largest Buddha statues in Japan.
