[5] Founded in 1327 with the name Zuisen-in (瑞泉院), Zuisen-ji in its first version, completed in 1328, consisted of a temple to goddess Kannon (a Kannonden), a belvedere (the Henkai Ichirantei (遍界一覧亭)) and a Zen garden.

[1] During the Edo period Tokugawa Mitsukuni had the temple restored and donated a wooden statue of Thousand-armed Kannon, Goddess of Mercy, meant to be housed in the belvedere as Zuisen-ji's main object of worship.

[6] The Shinpen Kamakurashi, a 1685 guide book to Kamakura commissioned by Mitsukuni which had great impact on the city's history, was written at the belvedere[7] by Kawai Tsunehisa, Matsumura Kiyoyuki and Rikiishi Tadakazu.

[6] The narrow road that turns right before the ticket counter leads to a stele marking the spot where a temple called Yōan-ji (永安寺) used to stand.

[1] The stele reads:[9] When Kantō kubō Ashikaga Ujimitsu died on January 11, 1398,[10] he was given the posthumous name Yōanji Hekizan Zenkō (永安寺壁山全公).

[1] The temple's compound is now relatively small and its buildings are all new, with the exception of the kyakuden (客殿, reception hall), which was built during the early Edo period and was brought here from Yokohama's Kinzō-in (金蔵院) in 1963.

[6] The Henkai Ichirantei, the belvedere originally built by Musō Soseki from where one can see Mount Fuji, is out of sight in the back, beyond the Zen rock garden, and is closed to visitors.

[6] Behind the main hall, the Zen rock garden was designed by Musō Soseki and consists of a pond with an arched bridge, a waterfall, a small island and a cave.