When Kobo Daishi trained here in 798, two white cranes landed on an ancient cedar to protect a tiny golden Jizo statue. He carved a 90cm Jizo from a sacred tree and placed the golden figure inside it as the temple's hidden heart.

La tradizione narra che Kōbō Daishi fondò il Kakurin-ji nel 798 dopo aver visto delle gru proteggere un Jizō d'oro.

The 4km pilgrim path to the temple is marked by 21 stone pillars called Chouishi, with the oldest dating to 1362. These Muromachi-period milestones are the oldest in Tokushima Prefecture and became a national historic site in 1998.

The three-story pagoda has a unique design quirk: each floor uses different railing ornaments. The first floor has onion-shaped giboshi, the second has upward-angled hane poles, and the third floor features lotus-shaped gyakurento.