Born Sato Norikiyo, he served Emperor Toba as a guard (hokumen no bushi) but abruptly took Buddhist vows at 23. He spent his life wandering Japan, composing about 2,300 waka poems. He especially loved cherry blossoms and the moon; his poem "Let me die beneath the cherry blossoms in spring, around the full moon of the second month" is legendary. He twice visited Hiraizumi in the north. In his final years, he settled at Hirokawa-dera in Kawachi and, remarkably, died around the full moon of the second month—just as his poem foretold.

A wandering poet who abandoned his warrior status to pursue the way of elegance. With deep empathy for nature and a love of solitude, he reflected his inner world through flowers, birds, wind, and moon. He greatly influenced Matsuo Basho.

His poetry collection "Sankashu" is the pinnacle of medieval waka. He was the poet Matsuo Basho most admired, and reverence for Saigyo permeates "Oku no Hosomichi." Hirokawa-dera is known as the place of his final rest.