Minato City · JP

Saiō-ji

Saiō-ji is a Pure Land Buddhist temple tucked into the narrow lanes of Shiba, Minato City, just a short walk from the grand Zōjō-ji. Founded in 1368 and granted lands by Tokugawa Ieyasu himself, it played a surprisingly pivotal role in Japanese diplomatic history: Lord Elgin stayed here during the 1858 Japan-British Treaty negotiations, and Japan's first Dutch legation was established within its gates. Though burned twice—in the Bakumatsu upheaval of 1867 and again in WWII air raids—the temple was rebuilt in 1960 and continues to serve its neighborhood as both a place of worship and home to Minato Kindergarten, founded in 1948 for war-displaced children.