is a Buddhist temple of the Rinzai sect in Nikaidà Â's in Kamakura, Japan. During the Muromachi period it was the family temple of the Ashikaga rulers of Kamakura (the Kantà  kubà Â): four of the five kubà  are buried there in a private cemetery closed to the public and first kubà  Ashikaga Motouji's is also known by the name . Designed by prominent Zen religious figure, poet and Zen garden designer Musà  Soseki (also known as Musà  Kokushi), the temple lies on top of an isolated hill and is famous for both its garden and its Zen rock garden. The beauty and the quantity of its plants have gained it since antiquity the nickname . The main object of worship is Jizà  Bosatsu. Zuisen-ji is an Historic Site and contains numerous objects classified as Important Cultural Properties and Places of Scenic Beauty.
Musà  Soseki was not only the temple's founding priest, but also its main designer. His sponsor, Nikaidà  Dà Âun, was the lord of Kai in today's Yamanashi prefecture, where Musà  had spent his youth. The name of Dà Âun's family's had originally been Fujiwara, but was later changed to Nikaidà  because the family mansion was in Nikaidà Â. It is likely that he helped Muso because his temple would be erected in the area that had given its name to his family.
Musà Â, who during his life had the support of powerful figures like Emperor Go-Toba, ninth shikken Hà Âjà  Sadatoki and eleventh shikken Hà Âjà  Takatoki, chose this present location because he believed it was ideal for a Zen temple. In 1326 he moved from a temple called Nanpà Â-in near Engaku-ji to the Momijigayatsu Valley to direct the construction work. Founded in 1327 with the name , Zuisen-ji in its first version, completed in 1328, consisted of a temple to goddess Kannon (a Kannonden), a belvedere (the ) and a Zen garden. After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333 Zuisen-ji came under the protection of the Ashikaga family. First Kantà  kubà  Ashikaga Motouji, son of Ashikaga Takauji, chose to be buried in it, thus starting a tradition. It was during that period and under his sponsorship that the name was changed and the temple assumed its finished form. In 1386 it was nominated first of the Kantà  Jissetsu, a group of temples second in power only to the Five Mountain System. At the peak of its power it had several subtemples, including one dedicated to Ashikaga Takauji's mother and another to Ashikaga Motouji, but none of them has survived. Zuisen-ji as a whole was an important center of development of the Literature of the Five Mountains, and figures like Gidà  Shà «shin lived and worked here.
During the Edo period Tokugawa Mitsukuni had the temple restored and donated a wooden statue of Thousand-armed Kannon, Goddess of Mercy, meant to be housed in the belvedere as Zuisen-ji's main object of worship. The Shinpen Kamakurashi, a 1685 guide book to Kamakura commissioned by Mitsukuni which had great impact on the city's history, was written at the belvedere by Kawai Tsunehisa, Matsumura Kiyoyuki and Rikiishi Tadakazu.
The original building has, like the others, been lost, but the statue survives and is housed in the main hall of the temple.
The narrow road that turns right before the ticket counter leads to a stele marking the spot where a temple called used to stand. It was there that fourth kubà  Ashikaga Mochiuji, who had rebelled against the shogunate, in 1439 made his last stand against shà Âgun Ashikaga Yoshinori's forces, finally disemboweling himself to avoid the shame of being taken prisoner. He is buried together with three other kubà  in a small cemetery within Zuisen-ji (closed to the public). The stele reads:
<blockquote> When Kantà  kubà  Ashikaga Ujimitsu died on January 11, 1398, he was given the posthumous name . His son Mitsukane built this temple giving it his father's posthumous name. The temple's oshà  Dombo Ushà «à  was a follower of Musà  Soseki. On March 24, 1439 kubà  Mochiuji, descendant of Ujimitsu, fought here against shà Âgun Yoshinori, was defeated and disemboweled himself. The temple was burned and never rebuilt. This is where it stood.<br /> Erected by the Kamakuramachi Seinendan in March 1926 </blockquote>
The path to the temple then starts to climb the hill and divides in two. The path to the right is the original one built by Musà  Soseki, and at its beginning stands a brown stone stele that remembers the fact (see photo).
The temple's compound is now relatively small and its buildings are all new, with the exception of the , which was built during the early Edo period and was brought here from Yokohama's in 1963. The Henkai Ichirantei, the belvedere originally built by Musà  Soseki from where one can see Mount Fuji, is out of sight in the back, beyond the Zen rock garden, and is closed to visitors.
Behind the temple there's a group of about 80 yagura, which are tombs typical of Kamakura consisting in caves dug in the rock. The group is known as the .
Behind the main hall, the Zen rock garden was designed by Musà  Soseki and consists of a pond with an arched bridge, a waterfall, a small island and a cave. It used to be surrounded by plants, but they were removed in 1969 to create the present landscape, which is faithful to the original blueprints. The stairs visible in its background go to the Ichirantei. The garden is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty. The extreme simplicity of the Zen garden contrasts with the garden in front of the main hall, which is considered the most beautiful in Kamakura.
The temple's cemetery houses the tombs of many famous men of letters and intellectuals.