History
Tenkai wanted to create a powerful religious center and, to achieve that, he built Kan'ei-ji imitating Mount Hiei's Enryaku-ji. The temple was therefore erected north-east of Edo Castle to ward off evil spirits that were believed to come from that unlucky direction, and was named after the era it was built in, like Enryaku-ji. Tenkai's project enjoyed from the beginning the shogunate support, so much so that Tokugawa Hidetada in 1622 donated the land on which it was built. At the time, on that land there were the suburban residences of three daimyos, (Tōdō Takatora of the Tsu domain, Tsugaru Nobuhira of the Hirosaki domain and Hori Naoyori of the Murakami domain), but the land was expropriated and donated to Tenkai for the temple. He was also given 50 thousand silver Ryō and a building as a contribution.
The chief abbot's residence, the Honbō, was built in 1625, which is considered the year of foundation of the temple. After that, several daimyos contributed with the construction of other buildings. The main hall, called as in Enryaku-ji's case Konponchūdō, was finished only in 1697.
In 1643, after Tenkai's death, disciple Kōkai took his place. His successor was Emperor Go-Mizunoo's third son Shuchōho Shinnō. From then on until the end of the shogunate, Kan'ei-ji's chief abbots were chosen among the Emperor's children or favorite nephews and called with the honorific Rinnōjinomiya (輪王寺宮?).
Read more about this topic: Kan'ei-ji
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