Saiko-ji Temple was built during the Heian Period in 824. It is thought to be the oldest temple in the Gunnai Region and the seventh of the 88 Sacred Places in the Kai Region that presented amulets to visitors. It is located on a hill in Notajiri-juku, which flourished as a post station along the old Koshu-kaido Road. It was founded as a Shingon Sect temple, but was converted to the Rinzai Sect in 1309 (Kamakura Period).
It was the head temple of the sect’s nine branch temples; however, six of these were closed and only Toko-ji Temple in Kuwakubo, Noman-ji Temple in Higash-Ono, and Fukusho-ji Temple in Shiotsu remain at present. The image of the Sacred Buddhist Deity of Compassion (Sho-Kanzenon-Bosatsu) enshrined in the Kannon-do Hall is thought to have been made by Gyoki, a Japanese Buddhist priest, and was the principal image of the Chofuku-ji Temple (closed), the 31th temple of the 88 Sacred Places in the Kai Region that presented amulets to visitors.
It was the head temple of the sect’s nine branch temples; however, six of these were closed and only Toko-ji Temple in Kuwakubo, Noman-ji Temple in Higash-Ono, and Fukusho-ji Temple in Shiotsu remain at present. The image of the Sacred Buddhist Deity of Compassion (Sho-Kanzenon-Bosatsu) enshrined in the Kannon-do Hall is thought to have been made by Gyoki, a Japanese Buddhist priest, and was the principal image of the Chofuku-ji Temple (closed), the 31th temple of the 88 Sacred Places in the Kai Region that presented amulets to visitors.