[3] Although the foundation of the temple is not completely documented, it claims to have been founded in 701 AD at the request of Emperor Monmu, with the monk Gien (643-728) as its founder.

Fujiwara no Miyako's mother, thinking that her daughter's affliction was due to some sins of a previous life, jumped into the water, intending to sacrifice herself to save the village.

While the legend remains folklore, archaeological excavations have found traces of the layout of the original temple, and roof tiles to the early 8th century.

In 1655, the Main Hall was repaired by Tokugawa Yorinobu, the daimyō of Kishū Domain, and during the Edo period, structures such as a Niomon and a Three-story Pagoda were restored.

The story of the monk Anchin (安珍) and his spurned lover Kiyohime (清姫) who, devoured by her passion and jealousy, turns into a serpent and pursues him to his destruction, is the subject of the Noh play Dōjōji, known for the rare prominence of its dramatic prop, the temple bell;[17][18] as well as the Kabuki play Musume Dōjōji with its long onnagata buyō.