Spurred by Jesuit printing (kirishitan-ban) and the introduction of movable type printing technology by way of the Korean Peninsula at the end of the 16th century, publishing books gradually became more and more widespread in Japan as well, and Sagabon were among the earliest of these.
16世紀末にキリシタン版や朝鮮半島を通じて活版印刷が伝わったことに刺激を受けて、日本でも次第に出版が盛んになってゆくが、その最初期のものの一つが嵯峨本である。