Mizuno clan
The temple was founded in 1336 under the sponsorship of Mizuno Munekuni, one of the ancestors of the Mizuno clan, and initially belonged to the Kencho-ji branch of the Rinzai school. It changed to Myōshin-ji branch in 1649. It was selected as the site for Tokugawa Yoshinao's tomb in 1650, and was supported by the Owari-Tokugawa family until the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji restoration. In 1936, the 19th generation head of the clan, Tokugawa Yoshichika ordered that the 170 graves in the clan cemetery be abolished, and the remains stored in an underground ossuary. His remains were added to the ossuary on his death in 1976.