The city is the place where Kūkai (also known as Kōbō Daishi) was born. Zentsuji is also home to Shikokugakuin University.
The temple Zentsuji, which the town gets its name from is the 75th temple on the 88 temple Shikoku Pilgrimage. It is also one of the three temples on the tour, the others being Tairyuji and Muroto misaki, that we are certain that Kukai visited, since Kukai mentions them by name in his writings.
Farmers of the Zentsuji region found a way to grow cubic watermelons, by growing the fruits in glass boxes and letting them naturally assume the shape of the receptacle. The square shape is designed to make the melons easier to stack and store, but the square watermelons are often more than double the price of normal ones. Pyramid shaped watermelons have also been developed.
