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Shuei, a disciple of Kukai, founded a temple named Komyoji at Kaizuka (present-day Kojimachi in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo); it is said to be the forerunner of Zojoji. Centuries later, in 1393 during the Muromachi period, at the time of Yuyo Shoso, the temple converted from the Shingon to the Jodo sect. Shoso is thus the founder of the present-day temple.
During the Edo period, Zojoji served as the temple of the Tokugawa family. Tokugawa IeyasuTokugawa Ieyasu (also (archaic) Iyeyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu January 31 1543 June 1 1616) was the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, and is commonly known as one of the "three great unifiers" of feudal Japan (the other two are Oda Nobunaga and Toyotom had the temple moved, first to Hibiya , then in 1590, at the time of expansion of Edo CastleForty-seven Ronin began Ii Naosuke was assassinated in 1860 Edo Castle ( -jo) was built in 1457 by Ota Dokan in what is now the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, but was then known as Edo. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here, and as the residence, to its present location.
With the fall of the Tokugawa shogunateThe Tokugawa shogunate or Tokugawa bakufu (also known as the Edo bakufu) was a feudal military dictatorship of Japan established in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family until 1868. This period is known as the Edo period, the grounds took on the character of a public park. The temple was badly damaged in World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough, but still retains the air of a major temple. Incidentally, the place name Daimon ("Great Gate") refers to the gate of Zojoji. The present gate is made of concrete.
Six of the 15 Tokugawa shoguns are buried in Zojoji. The graves of HidetadaTokugawa Hidetada ( , 1579 1632) was the 2nd shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate who reigned from 1605 to 1623 during the early Edo period of Japan. He was third son of the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu. His father Ieyas and the monument to his wife Sugen'inOeyo or Satoko or Sugen'in (: 1573 September 15, 1626) was the wife of Tokugawa Hidetada, (the second Tokugawa shogun of Japan) and the mother of his successor Iemitsu. Oeyo was the third daughter of the sengoku daimyo Azai Nagamasa. Her mother was Oichi,, IenobuTokugawa Ienobu ( 1662 1712) was the sixth shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan. 1709 1712). Born as the grandson of the third Shogun Iemitsu (and nephew of Ietsuna and Tsunayoshi), Ienobu employed Manabe Akifusa and took the advice of Confucian scho, and IetsuguTokugawa Ietsugu ( , 1709 1716) was the seventh shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, from 1713 to 1716, taking office at the age of three. He was the son of his predecessor Tokugawa Ienobu, and was the last of the main Tokugawa bloodline. He died on had been designated National Treasures, but were burned in World War II. At present, parts of two of their graves have the distinction of being Important Cultural Properties. Additional graves are located in the cemetery behind the Great Hall. Parts of the grounds of the temple are now occupied by a golf practice range and a hotel.