This temple belongs to the Rinzai sect of Buddhism, and stands on a hill overlooking Okitsu-shuku on the Tokaido Road, where it is said to have been built in the late 7th century. There still remains the tenarai-no-ma (study room), where the young Tokugawa Ieyasu (then named Takechiyo) was educated by Taigen Sessai, who was the chief priest of Rinzaiji Temple. During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), Seikenji Temple was used as lodging by Korean envoys who traveled the Tokaido Road, and it preserves many valuable historical materials such as writings and paintings left by envoys and their attendants. In documents recorded by the envoys, it is written that Seikenji Temple "was like an enchanted land where hermits live".
