Exploring Kamakura

Of all the places in Japan to visit, Kamakura is by far one of my most favorite. This post was inspired recently after I found an excellent and comprehensive website about Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Kamakura to visit.

Kamakura was the medieval capitol of the military government during the Kamakura Period. This is the first time in history that the samurai were the real power in Japan, not the Emperor and the court nobles of Kyoto/Nara. It also represents a big turning in Japanese religion as well, when a lot of new sects arose around the same time in Japan: Pure Land Buddhism (Jodo Shu, Jodo Shinshu), Zen, Nichiren and reform movements within older sects.

The old quarter of Kamakura is most famous for the Great Buddha, or daibutsu (大仏), which I’ve visited twice so far:

The Buddha is actually Amida Buddha, not the historical Buddha, and the site of the Great Buddha was once a temple that was washed away in tsunami. I have visited here twice, and I never really get tired of it. It’s a nice open garden area, and people can climb up inside the Great Buddha statue. For someone of my height it’s pretty crowded inside, and the stairs are very steep, so you have to be careful.

Walking to the Great Buddha is interesting too from the train station. It’s a nice old road with lots of little shops and knick-knacks, and leads up to the Great Buddha from the beach. Another often-overlooked location is the temple of Kaikōzan Hasedera Temple, located off the main road on the left. I think it was about halfway up the road leading to the Great Buddha. This temple has a pretty interesting history by itself, as a home for a Kannon Bodhisattva statue that washed ashore, administered by the Tendai sect, but now an independent Pure Land temple. There’s quite a bit to explore here, with the subterranean cave below (housing various local gods from folk religion), plus an array of small statues of Jizo Bodhisattva, before finally seeing the great altars to Amida Buddha and to Kannon Bodhisattva.

Speaking of Bodhisattvas, here’s a picture I took of both Kannon and Jizo. Kannon stands on the left with the extra heads on top his main head (symbolizing his efforts to watch over the world), and Jizo stands to the right with his ringed staff, or shakujō 錫杖, that he uses to protect people, especially children.

Lastly, from the Great Buddha, you can head over to the massive Shinto shrine complex of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū.* Like much of Kamakura, there’s a lot of history to this site, and for a long time the shrine blended both Buddhism and Shintoism, as was common in medieval days. During the Meiji Period, this blending was outlawed by the government, and all the Buddhist stuff was torn out in order to restore the shrine as an exclusively Shinto one.

The Shrine is very large, and houses a museum off to the right that still houses some fantastic works of art. It was here that I once saw an old mural depicting Hell and the Buddha’s Pure Land from the famous text, the Ojoyoshu. On my second trip there, we also stumbled upon a Shinto-style wedding occurring in the small pavilion before the main shrine. We watched as the Shinto priest, or kannushi gave a blessing to the bride and groom, as well as families who sat at opposite sides. Quite a rare treat.

From Hachimangu Shrine, you can walk directly out to the huge market street there. Kamakura has some excellent food, including some of my favorites like okonomiyaki and senbei.

But after all these trips, I still feel like I have only scratched the surface. Kamakura is a city with a lot of history and culture not obvious to travelers, so I recommend checking out the link I posted above, and try exploring some lesser-known sites. You might be surprised what you find.

Namu Amida Butsu

* – Japanese site here. Fancy.