The Indian sage Hodo, conducted a Hihatsu no Ho or "Buddhist begging for alms" ritual on this site. It involves jumping over a "hachi" begging bowl. The tale of this spiritual event eventually reached the 38th Emperor of Japan, inspiring an order to establish Chofukuji Temple in 670. The bowl used by the sage Hodo was eventually presented as an offering at Mt. Hachizuka, also inspiring the place name Hachigamine or "alms bowl cliff." The temple's current name, Hodoji, was selected to avoid the same spelling as the legitimate heir to Shogun Yoshimune Tokugawa, whose name was Nagatomimaru (in which "Nagatomi" is written identically to "Chofuku"). The temple's dining hall is a simple structure dating back to the 12th - 14th century, and is one of only two structures of its sort in Osaka Prefecture. Meanwhile, the temple's Tahoto tower is styled in the Japanese fashion on lower levels, and in the Chinese fashion at upper levels. Its woodwork also bears the oldest known engravings of killer whales.