Kamakura has a lot of places to visit but we started with a historical Shinto Shrine, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. It is said that this shrine is the “starting point of the culture of Kamakura, the capital of the samurai,” so it is fitting that we visited here first.
After getting off the train we walked through a shopping street. It was still pretty early and most places were just setting up to open but when we left the street was packed. We did stop to get some dango on our way out, we didn’t get pics of that (the boys were in rare form at this point), but it was a yummy street food treat.
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu was founded in 1063 and moved to its current location in 1180 by Minamoto Yoritomo, the founder and first shogun (supreme military commander during the samurai-ruled period of Japan) of the Kamakura government. The shrine is dedicated to Hachiman, the “god of martial arts.”
After visiting the shrine we came upon Hokaiji, a Buddhist temple. This temple was constructed in 1335 as a place of “repose” for the deceased Hojo clan who fell in 1333. It currently belongs to a school of Buddhism and is a place for learning the Buddhist teachings. Apparently, the Hojo clan’s family emblem was the triforce symbol which is used in the Zelda video game. We saw this mark throughout the grounds of the temple, but for some reason we don’t have pictures of it. It had really pretty foliage on the grounds with different seasonal flowers. I think we visited before most of the spring floral was blooming, but it was still pretty.
After looking into the history of these locations, you can really go down a long rabbit hole of Japanese history. Very fascinating stuff.
BRB, Out to Japan – Jackie
Brings back great memories of our years in Korea and my numerous temp duty assignments throughout Japan. I love far eastern history, architecture and craftmanship.