Sai-ji

right|thumb|280px|Miniature Model of Saiji, Heiankyo (Kyoto City Heiankyo Sosei-Kan Museum) or the West Temple was a Buddhist temple located in the Karahashi neighborhood of the Minami ward of the city of Kyoto, Japan. The temple no longer exists, and its ruins were designated a National Historic Site in 1921, with the area under protection expanded in 1966.

==Overview== When the capital of Japan was relocated from Heijō-kyō (modern Nara to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto), Emperor Kanmu ordered the construction of two national temples to be constructed symmetrically on either side of the Suzaku Avenue (Suzaku-ōji, present-day Senbon-dōri), just north of the great Rashōmon gate near the southern edge of the city. These two temples (Sai-ji in the west and T��-ji in the east) together with Shingon-in in the Heian Palace) were the only Buddhist institutions allowed in the capital at the time it was established. This policy was introduced by Emperor Kanmu in order to curb the political influence the large Buddhist institutions had acquired in Heijō-kyō during the 8th century. Each occupied a square site of approximately 300 by 300 meters. Both temples were charged with prayers for the protection of the nation and the Imperial family of Japan. Sai-ji may also have been used as a facility for receiving foreign envoys as a part of the Ritsuryo system, the Kōrokan.