A beautiful view of Lake Biwa spreads out below. I strolled through the spacious and spectacular grounds.
Saikyo-ji Temple, the head temple of the Tendai Shinsei sect. It is said that Prince Shotoku built this temple for his mentor, the Goryeo monks Huiji and Huesong. After that, it fell into disrepair for a long time, but Jikei Daishi Ryogen Shonin restored it and turned it into a training hall for nenbutsu. After further time, in 1486, Mamori Shonin entered the temple. It led to the restoration of temples and teachings.

An era of gekokujo where the Onin and Bunmei War continue. The founder of the sect, Mamori Shonin, advocated strict observance of the precepts and practice of Shomyo Nembutsu. Since then, Saikyo-ji Temple has become a dojo for Buddhist precepts and nenbutsu, and has become the head temple with more than 400 branch temples nationwide. To this day, the nembutsu has been chanted continuously for a single day.

The main hall is a splendid total zelkova gabled structure. In the Edo period 1739, the building was completed. The materials were donated by the Kishu Tokugawa family, and the transom (16 Rakan) and Shumidan in the front are all made of zelkova wood, and are decorated with gorgeous decorations that represent the characteristics of the early Edo period.

The main hall filled with a solemn atmosphere where the nembutsu resounds. The mail idol enshrined here is Joroku Amida Nyorai (Heian period, Jocho style), an important cultural property.

Mamori Shonin "Sacrifice white monkey"
In 1493, during the Muromachi period, when the Tokusei Ikki broke out in Sakamoto, monk warriors from the temple attacked Saikyo-ji Temple, mistaking the ringleader for Shinmori Shonin. However, there was no one in the precincts, and only the sound of the gong could be heard from the main hall. Hearing this, the soldier monks rushed into the main hall, where they found a monkey with a white hand beating the gong in place of the priest. It is said that even the monkey, a messenger of Hiyoshi Sanno, was enchanted by the monk's indoctrination and chanting the nembutsu, and left the place.

The reception hall that continues from the main hall. Originally the former hall of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Fushimi Castle, it was donated in 1598 by the wife of Nagatoshimori Yamanaka, the mother of Otani Gyobu Yoshitaka. The fusuma paintings of the Kano School are drawn in each of the rooms arranged in two rows, and the inner Buddha of the sage's room is a seated statue of Yakushi Nyorai, a secret Buddha that has been handed down from Hossho-ji Temple in Kyoto.

The view from the reception hall is an elegant garden created by Enshu Kobori. An ornamental garden that skillfully utilizes the steep slopes of the back mountain and makes full use of round cuts and small cuts. The pond in the center is a gourd-shaped pond that incorporates the shape of a biwa, and is composed of two rocks with a small hill built between the lower part of the mountain and the pond. The fresh greenery of early summer, the blooming of the azaleas, the autumn foliage at the height of autumn, and the snowy landscape of winter are said to be particularly spectacular.

During the Warring States period, when Nobunaga Oda set fire to Mt. Immediately after that, Akechi Mitsuhide became the lord of Sakamoto Castle. Since Mitsuhide became a follower of Saikyoji Temple and worked hard to restore the temple, the grave of the Mitsuhide family remains in the precincts.