This association was due to the 9th century theory of Honji-suijaku (True Nature-manifestations) in which Shintō Kami are considered to be manifestations (avatars/incarnations) of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. It was because of this theory that temples and shrines were usually combined and/or coexisted side by side. This lasted until the early years of the Meiji Period when they were forcibly separated, Shinto was established a the state religion, and Buddhism was persecuted.

This temple was originally a branch temple of the shrine and was used for reciting prayers and Buddhist scriptures to invoke or please the Shintō Kami. It was destroyed by Chōsokabe in the 16th century and when restored, done on a smaller scale. Bombings in 1945 destroyed all except the daishidō and Konpira Shrine at which time it was rebuilt again.

This honzon in uncommon in Shingon. Daitsū-chishō Butsu is a Buddha who appears in the Hokke-kyō, the Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarika Sutra) which is the main sutra of the Nichiren Sect. In the sutra he is inscribed as "the Enlightened One before the Shaka Nyorai." This is the only temple on the pilgrimage devoted to him and it is not listed as one of Shingon's 13 Buddhas and Deities.