I stepped out of Nippa Station on the Yokohama Blue Line Subway westward. I crossed the Kanagawa Prefectural Road #13 (Yokohama-Ikuta), and climbed a gentle hill for several minutes. Saiho-ji Temple had a long approach from the street to it with many old big gingko trees along the approach. Watched over by those trees, I approached the temple gate. Abruptly, I found Nothroughfare. I had to bypass a repair site. I arrived at the temple gate sideways, and noticed the gate itself was under repair. It was jacked up and was moved several meters away from the original site. The temple gate, the main hall, the Kannon-do hall, and the temple bell tower had thatched roofs. Without repair works, they must have looked quite authentic.
Saiho-ji Temple was founded by Priest Shoken (1138-1196) at Sasame, Kamakura, in 1190, when Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) was busy establishing the Kamakura Shogunate. Shoken's father was Fujiwara Michinori (1106?-1159), who was killed by Fujiwara Nobuyori (1133-1159), who was killed by Taira Kiyomori (1118-1181), whose children were killed by Yoritomo.
Later, the temple was moved to Gokurakuji, Kamakura, where stands a stone memorial tower for the repose of Uesugi Norimasa (1335-1394). He built the tower for himself while he was still alive. Norimasa was the Regent of the Kanot Deputy Shogunate in Kamakura. His elder brother, Noriharu (?-1379), had committed suicide as a remonstrance against the military gamble Ashikaga Ujimitsu (1359-1398), the second Kanto Deputy Shogun. He tried to step in on the Koryaku Incident in Kyoto.
After witnessing many deaths, the temple was moved to Nippa, where there used to be a river port along the Tsurumi River, in 1492. The river port used to be called Niba, literally Cargo Place.