This is a temple of the Chisan school of the Shingon Sect. It is one of the "Four Kannons of Owari," along with Jimokuji Kannon Temple (Ama City), Arako Kannon Temple (Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya City) and Ryusenji Kannon Temple (Moriyama-ku, Nagoya City). The temple is also the place where Ebisu, one of Nagoya's Seven Deities of Good Fortune, is enshrined.
It was founded by a monk called Zenko Shonin in either 733 or 738. The principal image in the main temple is the Eleven-faced Kannon Bosatsu.
This temple was originally called "Komatsudera," but this structure was destroyed a hundred and some years after it had been built. Kanehira Fujiwara visited Narumi (now Midori-ku, Nagoya City) during the Encho period (sometime after 923), reconstructed the temple and changed its name to Ryufukuji.
The temple was subsequently destroyed once again. In 1238, monk Agan Shonin built some halls and towers. Maintenance work, repairs and renovations have been repeated ever since.
On "Kannon fair / Festival" days, which are the 18th of every month, visitors can enter the main temple during prayer services at 10:00, 14:00 and 15:00.
The bonsho (temple bell) in the bell tower was made by Agan Shonin in the Kamakura period. It is one of the three great bells of Owari, and has been designated as an Aichi Prefecture Cultural Property. The bell is struck on New Year's Eve, a practice called "joya-no-kane."
There are several other important cultural properties and prefectural designated cultural properties.