Page 94 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Tokyo

92  BEY OND T OK Y O

4 Kamakura 1191. The approach runs
Kamakura between two lotus ponds: the
Genji Pond has three islands (in
A seaside town of temples and wooded hills, Kamakura Japanese san means both three
was Japan’s administrative capital from 1192 until 1333. and life) while the Heike Pond,
As a legacy, today it has 19 Shinto shrines and 65 Buddhist named for a rival clan, has four
temples, inc luding two of Japan’s oldest Zen mona steries (shi means both four and
death). The path leads to the
(in Kita Kamakura, see p94). Many of the temples and gardens Maiden stage for dances and
nestle against the hills that ring the town and are linked by music. The main shrine above
three hiking trails. Favored by artists and writers, Kamakura was reconstructed in 1828 in
has numerous antique and crafts shops. In cherry-blossom Edo style. To the east, the
season and on summer weekends it can be swamped by Kamakura National Treasure
visitors. Some parts are best explored on foot, but there are House Museum contains a
wealth of temple treasures.
one-day bus passes and bicycles for rent at Kamakura Station.
 Myohon-ji Temple
£ Kamakura stn. Tel (0467) 22-0777.
Open daily.
On a hillside of soaring trees,
this temple, with its steep,
extended roof, is Kama kura’s
largest of the Nichiren sect. YOKOHAMA
It was established in 1260, in
memory of a 1203 massacre. Kita-Kamakura
Station
Engaku-ji
 Hokoku-ji Temple Temple
@ Tel (0467) 22-0762. Open daily. Tokei-ji Hansobo
Shrine
Temple
& (for adm to bamboo grove). Meigetsu-in Ten-en
Temple
The buildings at Hokoku-ji, a Jochi-ji Hiking Trail
The path down the center of Wakamiya-oji, Kamakura’s main street Rinzai Zen temple founded in Temple
1334, are modern; its great
 Hase-dera Temple children, surrounded by count- attrac tion is its lovely bamboo Choju-ji Kencho-ji Temple Kakuon-ji
Temple
£ Hase stn. @ Tel (0467) 22-6300. less statues to children who grove. There is also a pleasant Temple
K AMAKURA-KAIDO
Open daily. & ∑ hasedera.jp/en have died or been aborted. raked gravel and rock garden Zuisen-ji
Temple
Simple and elegant, Hase-dera worth exploring. Enno-ji
Tsurugaoka
is home to a superb 11-faced  Great Buddha Temple Hachiman-gu
Kannon, bodhisattva of mercy. £ Hase stn. @ Tel (0467) 22-0703. Shrine
The Treasure House displays Open daily. & Kamakura-gu
Shrine
characteristic Muromachi-era The Great Buddha (Daibutsu) is Zeni-Arai
carvings of the 33 incarnations Kamakura’s most famous sight. Benten Shrine Prefectural Modern National Sugimoto-dera
Temple
Art Gallery
of Kannon and a 1421 image Cast in 1252, the bronze statue Treasure House
Museum
of Daikokuten, god of wealth. of the Amida Buddha is 44 ft Sasuke-no KAN AZAWA-KAIDO Jomio-ji Temple
Beside it is the sutra repository; (13.5 m) tall. Having survived tidal Inari Shrine Hokai-ji
rotating the sutras is said to waves, fires, earthquakes, and K O M A C H I - D O R I W A K A M I Y A - O J I Temple
earn as much merit as reading typhoons, it now has shock- KO M A C H I - D O R I
them. The 1264 bell is the absorbers in its base. Its propor- SHIYAKUSHO- Hokoku-ji
town’s oldest. Below it is a hall tions are distorted so that it seems Great Buddha DORI Kamakura Temple
dedicated to Jizo, guardian of balanced to those in front of it – Hiking Trail Station Gion-san
this use of perspective may show Hiking Trail
Greek influence (via the Silk Road). Myohon-ji
The interior is open to visitors. Temple
Great Buddha Y U I GA H A M A - D O R I
 Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu (Daibutsu)
Shrine Wadazuka
£ Kamakura stn. Tel (0467) 22-0315. Station Myoho-ji
Temple
Open daily. Kamakura National Hase-dera Yuigahama
Station
Treasure House Museum: Tel (0467) Temple Nameri R iver Ankokuron-ji
22-0753. Open daily. & Temple
Hase Chosho-ji
Hachiman shrines are dedi cated Station Temple YOKOSUKA
to the god of war; this one is
also a guardian shrine of the N A T I O N A L H I G H W A Y 1 3 4
Minamoto (or Genji) clan. Built Yuigahama Kuhon-ji
Temple
Beach
The head of the Great Buddha, or Daibutsu in 1063, it was moved here in ENOSHIMA
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