Hanta-ji is one of the temples on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, linking it to Japan's famous multi-site Buddhist route.

In 1279, a monk prayed here for Japan's protection against the second Mongol invasion. The temple's imperial connections were so strong it still displays tiles with the emperor's 16-petal chrysanthemum.

A stone torii gate still stands in the temple grounds, a rare remnant of the old practice of mixing Shinto and Buddhist worship before the two religions were officially separated in 1868.

Ippen Shonin, founder of the Ji-shu Buddhist sect, studied here in his youth and later returned in 1288 to dedicate his late father's precious sutras to the temple.