[1] This temple was the bodaiji of the Arima clan and originally located in Fukuchiyama in the Tanba Province, where it was called Zuigan-ji (瑞巌寺).

It was later renamed to Bairin-ji which is associated with his father Noriyori's posthumous name, Bairin'in-den (梅林院殿) and became a mausoleum of the successive daimyō of the domain.

Along with Shōgen-ji in Gifu Prefecture, Bairin-ji was regarded one of the most rigorous and demanding Zen training monasteries (修行道場) in Japan.

[2] However, with the start of the Meiji period the temple fell into disrepair with the loss of the Arima clan patronage and with the new government's haibutsu kishaku movement against Buddhism.

[4] Other Edo period cultural assets in the temple include folding screens from Tohaku Hasegawa, and fusuma (Japanese sliding door) paintings in the Kano style.

[7] On the grounds of Bairin-ji is a cemetery with the graves of the Edo period Arima clan daimyō of Kurume Domain and their families, as well as their deceased vassals.