Hoshunin Temple was built in 1608 as one of the Daitokuji Temple's outlying Zen temples by Hoshunin, the wife of Maeda Toshiie of Kaga, with Gyokushitsu Sohaku as the founder. It is the family temple of the Maeda family. The current structure was built in the early years of the Meiji Period after the original building was destroyed by fire.
Behind the temple's main hall lies the Donkokaku, a two-story structure that faces Hounchi Pond to create a well-known landscape garden that evokes Japan's famed Golden and Silver pavilions. Donkokaku is said to have been constructed by Kobori Enshu in 1617 at the request of Maeda Toshiie's son Toshinaga. The bridge over the pond is known as Dagetsu Bridge for a framed two-character inscription by temple founder Gyokushitsu. The pond's many irises and water lilies create a spectacle of great beauty when they blossom each spring.
