Kamakura is a historically interesting city located south of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area. Kamakura was the de facto capital of Japan during the Minamoto dynasty, which ruled from 1192-1333, a time also known as the Kamakura period. The Kamakura shōgunate had its seat in the city, which thereby grew as the center of the country’s feudal military government. Kyoto was the imperial city and formally the capital of Japan, but under the shogunate Kamakura became the largest city in the country for a time.

Kamakura’s shōguns laid out the city as a traditional Japanese imperial city, with a central street called Suzaku Ōji (朱雀大路) leading from south to north, with the palace as the center of a capital city. This type of town plan was established in Kamakura with the 1,800-meter long Wakamiya Ōji (若宮大路) street leading in a straight line north to Tsurugaoka Hachimangū (鶴岡八幡宮), the city’s main Shinto shrine. Tsurugaoka Hachimangū thereby resembles the position of a palace, and the shrine is also one of Kamakura’s attractions.

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū was founded in 1063 as a Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Ōjin, who as a kami was named Hachiman, but it later also served as a Tendai Buddhist temple until the Meiji separation of Shinto and Buddhism. It was Minamoto no Yoritomo, who founded the Kamakura shōgunate, who, upon moving the shrine to its current location in 1191, invited Hachiman to protect his rule. The current location was carefully chosen as the most auspicious after consulting a spiritual advisor. There was a mountain to the north, a river to the east, a great road to the west and open country to the south. Each direction was protected by a god: Genbu guarded the north, Seiryū the east, Byakko the west, and Suzaku the south. And despite all the changes the shrine has undergone over the years, Yoritomo’s design is still intact.

The Tsurugaoka Hachimangū Shrine itself was built as a classic Shinto shrine, and there are three torii as entrance gates to the area. The torii stand along the access road, sandō (参道), and especially the section between the 2nd and 3rd torii called dankazura (段葛) is a beautiful part. After the third and innermost torii there are three parallel bridges, one of which is arched while the others are flat. Historically, only the shōgun passed the arched bridge. Continuing north, you come to the music pavilion named Maiden (舞殿), where music, dancing and weddings took place. After this, you can see the small shrine, Wakamiya (若宮), behind the Maiden, and the large and main shrine, Hongū (本宮), as the central facility in the area. Hongū is 61 steps above the rest of the complex and dates to 1828, when shōgun Tokugawa Ienari had it built in the Hachiman-zukuri style.

Another of the city’s major attractions is the Buddhist temple Kotoku-in (鎌倉大仏殿高徳院), where you can see Kamakura’s famous Buddha statue, Kamakura Daibutsu (鎌倉大仏), which dates from the mid-13th century. The large bronze Buddha has a pedestal over 13 meters high, and it was originally gilded and placed in a temple. Over time, storms have destroyed the building around the Buddha several times, but they stopped rebuilding it in 1498, and since then the statue has been outside in the open. And the Buddha has become one of Japan’s best-known landmarks.