Houkoku-ji belongs to the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, one of Japan's major Zen traditions.

Houkoku-ji is stop No. 10 on the historic Kamakura 33 Kannon pilgrimage route, with its original Sho Kannon statue now preserved in the Kamakura Museum of National Treasures.

Houkoku-ji is nicknamed the 'Bamboo Temple,' a direct nod to its famous bamboo grove.

The temple houses a statue of Kashyap by the famous Takuma school of painters, which earned it the nickname 'Takuma-dera,' though the original was destroyed by fire in 1891.