Both Emperor Kameyama and Go-Uta put great effort into reconstructing Daikaku-ji Temple, which was located in the suburbs of Sagano in Kyoto, and the reason Daikakuji-to was given a name based on the name of this temple was because both Emperors established a cloister government here after they entered the priesthood.
亀山・後宇多天皇両天皇が京都の外れの嵯峨野にあった大覚寺の再興に尽力し、出家後はここに住んで院政を行った事からこの名称が付けられた。