Kamakura (鎌倉,Kamakura,[kamakɯɾa]^ⓘ), officiallyKamakura City (鎌倉市,Kamakura-shi), is acity ofKanagawa Prefecture inJapan. It is located in theKanto region on the island ofHonshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and apopulation density of 4,359 people per km² over the total area of 39.67 km² (15.32 sq mi). Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939.

Kamakura 鎌倉市
City
Tsurugaoka Hachimangū Great Buddha of Kamakura Kenchō-ji Kamakura-gū Yuigahama
Flag Seal
Kamakura inKanagawa Prefecture
Kamakura   Show map of Japan Kamakura Kamakura (Kanto Area) Show map of Kanto Area Kamakura Kamakura (Kanagawa Prefecture) Show map of Kanagawa Prefecture
Coordinates:35°19′11″N139°33′09″E / 35.31972°N 139.55250°E /35.31972; 139.55250
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Kanagawa Prefecture
First official recorded	1063[citation needed]
City Settled	November 3, 1939
Government
• Mayor	Matsuo Takashi
Area
• Total	39.67 km2 (15.32 sq mi)
Population  (September 1, 2020)
• Total	172,929
• Density	4,400/km2 (11,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
– Tree	Yamazakura(Prunus jamasakura)
– Flower	Gentian
Phone number	0467-23-3000
Address	18-10 Onarimachi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken 248-8686
Website	Official website

Kamakura was Japan'sde facto capital when it was the seat of theKamakura shogunate from 1185 to 1333, established byMinamoto no Yoritomo. It was the first military government in Japan's history. After the downfall of the shogunate, Kamakura saw a temporary decline. However, during theEdo period, it regained popularity as a tourist destination among the townspeople ofEdo. Despite suffering significant losses of historical and cultural assets due to theGreat Kantō Earthquake in 1923, Kamakura continues to be one of the major tourist attractions in the Kanto region, known for its historical landmarks such asTsurugaoka Hachimangū and theGreat Buddha of Kamakura.

The nameKamakura appears in theKojiki of 712,^[1][2] and is also mentioned in thec. 8th centuryMan'yōshū^[3][4] as well as in theWamyō Ruijushō^[5] of 938. However, the city clearly appears in the historical record only withMinamoto no Yoritomo's founding of theKamakura shogunate in 1192.

There are various hypotheses about the origin of the name. According to the most likely theory, Kamakura, surrounded as it is on three sides by mountains, was likened both to a cooking hearth (竃,kamado, kama) and to a warehouse (倉,kura), because both only have one side open.^[1]

Another and more picturesque explanation is a legend, relating howFujiwara no Kamatari stopped atYuigahama on his way to today'sIbaraki Prefecture, where he wanted to pray at theKashima Shrine for the fall ofSoga no Iruka. He dreamed of an old man who promised his support, and upon waking, he found next to his bed a type of spear called akamayari. Kamatari enshrined it in a place calledŌkura.Kamayari plusŌkura then turned into the nameKamakura.^[1] However, this and similar legends appear to have arisen only after Kamatari's descendantFujiwara no Yoritsune became the fourthshōgun of theKamakura shogunate in 1226, some time after the nameKamakura appears in the historical record.^[6] It used to be also called Renpu (鎌府) (short for Kamakura Shogunate (鎌倉幕府,KamakuraBakufu)).

The earliest traces of human settlements in the area date back at least 10,000 years.Obsidian and stone tools found at excavation sites nearJōraku-ji were dated to theOld Stone Age (between 100,000 and 10,000 years ago). During theJōmon period, the sea level was higher than now and all the flat land in Kamakura up to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and, further east, up to Yokohama's Totsuka-ku and Sakae-ku was under water. Thus, the oldest pottery fragments found come from hillside settlements of the period between 7500 BC and 5000 BC. In the late Jōmon period the sea receded and civilization progressed. During theYayoi period (300 BC–300 AD), the sea receded further almost to today's coastline, and the economy shifted radically from hunting and fishing to farming.^[7]

The Azuma Kagami describes pre-shogunate Kamakura as a remote, forlorn place, but there is reason to believe its writers simply wanted to give the impression that prosperity had been brought there by the new regime.^[8] To the contrary, it is known that by theNara period (about 700 AD) there were both temples and shrines.Sugimoto-dera for example was built during this period and is therefore one of the city's oldest temples.^[7] The town was also the seat of area government offices and the point of convergence of several land and marine routes. It seems therefore only natural that it should have been a city of a certain importance, likely to attract Yoritomo's attention.^[8]

The extraordinary events, the historical characters and the culture of the twenty years which go from Minamoto no Yoritomo's birth to the assassination of the last of his sons have been throughout Japanese history the background and the inspiration for countless poems, books,jidaigeki TV dramas,Kabuki plays, songs,manga and even videogames; and are necessary to make sense of much of what one sees in today's Kamakura.

Yoritomo, after the defeat and almost complete extermination of his family at the hands of theTaira clan, managed in the space of a few years to go from being a fugitive hiding from his enemies inside a tree trunk to being the most powerful man in the land. Defeating the Taira clan, Yoritomo becamede facto ruler of much of Japan and founder of the Kamakura shogunate, an institution destined to last 141 years and to have immense repercussions over the country's history.

The Kamakura shogunate era is called by historians theKamakura period and, although its end is clearly set (Siege of Kamakura (1333)), its beginning is not. Different historians put Kamakura's beginning at a different point in time within a range that goes from the establishment of Yoritomo's first military government in Kamakura (1180) to his elevation to the rank ofSei-i Taishōgun (征夷大将軍) in 1192.^[10] It used to be thought that during this period, effective power had moved completely from the Emperor in Kyoto to Yoritomo in Kamakura, but the progress of research has revealed this was not the case.^[10] Even after the consolidation of the shogunate's power in the east, the Emperor continued to rule the country, particularly its west.^[10] However, it is undeniable that Kamakura had a certain autonomy and that it had surpassed the technical capital of Japan politically, culturally and economically.^[10] The shogunate even reserved for itself an area in Kyoto called Rokuhara (六波羅) where lived its representatives, who were there to protect its interests.^[10]

In 1179, Yoritomo marriedHōjō Masako, an event of far-reaching consequences for Japan. In 1180, he entered Kamakura, building his residence in a valley called Ōkura (in today'sNishi Mikado). Thestele on the spot reads:

737 years ago, in 1180, Minamoto no Yoritomo built his mansion here. Consolidated his power, he later ruled from home, and his government was therefore calledŌkura Bakufu (大蔵幕府). He was succeeded by his sons Yoriie and Sanetomo, and this place remained the seat of the government for 46 years until 1225, when his wife Hōjō Masako died. It was then transferred to Utsunomiya Tsuji (宇津宮辻).
Erected in March 1917 by the Kamakurachō Seinenkai

In 1185, his forces, commanded by his younger brotherMinamoto no Yoshitsune, vanquished the Taira and in 1192 he received from EmperorGo-Toba the title ofSei-i Taishōgun.^[11] Yoshitsune's power would however cause Yoritomo's envy; the relationship between the brothers soured, and in 1189 Yoritomo was given Yoshitsune's head pickled in liquor. For the same reason, in 1193 he had his other brotherNoriyori killed. Power was now firmly in his hands, but the Minamoto dynasty and its power however were to end as quickly and unexpectedly as they had started.

In 1199, Yoritomo died falling from his horse at the age of 51, and was buried in a temple that had until then housed his tutelary goddess.^[12] He was succeeded by his 17-year-old sonMinamoto no Yoriie under the regency of his maternal grandfatherHōjō Tokimasa. A long and bitter fight ensued in which entire clans like theHatakeyama, theHiki, and theWada were wiped out by the Hōjō who wished to get rid of Yoritomo's supporters and consolidate their power. Yoriie did become head of theMinamoto clan and was regularly appointedshōgun in 1202 but by that time, real power had already fallen into the hands of the Hōjō clan.^[11] Yoriie plotted to take back his power, but failed and was assassinated on July 17, 1204.^[11] His six-year-old first sonIchiman had already been killed during political turmoil in Kamakura, while his second son Yoshinari at age six was forced to become a Buddhist priest under the nameKugyō. From then on all power would belong to the Hōjō, and theshōgun would be just a figurehead. Since the Hōjō were part of the Taira clan, it can be said that the Taira had lost a battle, but in the end had won the war.

Yoritomo's second son and thirdshōgunMinamoto no Sanetomo spent most of his life staying out of politics and writing poetry, but was nonetheless assassinated in February 1219 by his nephew Kugyō under the giantginkgo tree whose trunk still stood atTsurugaoka Hachiman-gū until it was uprooted by a storm in the early hours of March 10, 2010.^[11] Kugyō himself, the last of his line, was beheaded as a punishment for his crime by the Hōjō just hours later. Barely 30 years into the shogunate, theSeiwa Genji dynasty who had created it in Kamakura had ended.^[11]

In 1293, asevere earthquake killed 23,000 people and seriously damaged the city. In the confusion following the quake, Hōjō Sadatoki, the Shikken of the Kamakura shogunate, carried out a purge against his subordinate Taira no Yoritsuna. In what is referred to as the Heizen Gate Incident, Yoritsuna and 90 of his followers were killed.

The Hōjō regency however continued untilNitta Yoshisada destroyed it in 1333 at theSiege of Kamakura. It was under the regency that Kamakura acquired many of its best and most prestigious temples and shrines, for example Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, Kenchō-ji, Engaku-ji, Jufuku-ji, Jōchi-ji, and Zeniarai Benten Shrine. The Hōjō family crest in the city is therefore still ubiquitous.

From the middle of the thirteenth century, the fact that the vassals (thegokenin) were allowed to becomede facto owners of the land they administered, coupled to the custom that allgokenin children could inherit, led to the parcelization of the land and to a consequent weakening of the shogunate. This, and not lack of legitimacy, was the primary cause of the Hōjō's fall.

According to The Institute for Research on World-Systems,^[13] Kamakura was the 4th largest city in the world in 1250 AD, with 200,000 people, and Japan's largest, eclipsingKyoto by 1200 AD. Yet, despite Kamakura's annihilation of Kyoto-based political and military power at theBattle of Dan-no-ura in 1185, and the failure of the Emperor to free himself from Kamakura's control during theJōkyū War, Takahashi (2005) has questioned whether Kamakura's nationwide political hegemony actually existed.^[10] Takahashi claims that if Kamakura ruled theKantō, not only was the Emperor in fact still the ruler ofKansai, but during this period the city was in many ways politically and administratively still under the ancient capital ofKyoto.^[10] Kamakura was simply a rival center of political, economic and cultural power in a country that had Kyoto as its capital.^[10]

Kamakura is known among Buddhists for having been the cradle ofNichiren Buddhism during the 13th century. FounderNichiren was not a native; he was born inAwa Province, in today'sChiba Prefecture. But it was only natural for a preacher to come here because the city was the political centre of the country at the time.^[14] Nichiren settled down in a straw hut in the Matsubagayatsu (literallytransl. pine needle valley)[15] district, where three temples (Ankokuron-ji, Myōhō–ji, and Chōshō-ji), have been fighting for centuries for the honour of being the true heir of the master.^[14] During his turbulent life Nichiren came and went, but Kamakura always remained at the heart of his religious activities. It is here that, when he was about to be executed by the Hōjō Regent for being a troublemaker, he was allegedly saved by a miracle; it is also in Kamakura that he wrote his famousRisshō Ankoku Ron (立正安国論), or'Treatise on Peace and Righteousness', and that legend says he was rescued and fed by monkeys. Kamakura is also where he preached.^[14]

Some Kamakura locations important to Nichiren Buddhism are:

• The three temples in Matsubagayatsu

Ankokuron-ji claims to have on its grounds the cave where the master, with the help of a white monkey, hid from his persecutors.^[14] (However Hosshō-ji inZushi's Hisagi district makes the same claim, and with a better historical basis.)^[16][17] Within Ankokuron-ji lie also the spot where Nichiren used to meditate while admiring Mount Fuji, the place where his disciple Nichiro was cremated, and the cave where he is supposed to have written hisRisshō Ankoku Ron.^[14]

NearbyMyōhō–ji (also called Koke-dera or'Temple of Moss'), a much smaller temple, was erected in an area where Nichiren had his home for 19 years.^[14] The third Nichiren temple in Nagoe,Chōshō-ji, also claims to lie on the very spot where it all started.

• The Nichiren Tsujiseppō Ato (日蓮聖人辻説法跡) on Komachi Ōji in theKomachi district contains the very stone from which he used to harangue the crowds, claiming that the various calamities that were afflicting the city at the moment were due to the moral failings of its citizens.^[14]
• The former execution ground at Katase'sRyūkō-ji where Nichiren was about to be beheaded (an event known to Nichiren's followers as the Tatsunokuchi Persecution (龍ノ口法難)), and where he was miraculously saved when thunder struck the executioner.^[14] Nichiren had been condemned to death for having written theRisshō Ankoku Ron.^[18] Every year, on September 12, Nichiren devotees gather to celebrate the anniversary of the miracle.^[19]
• TheKesagake no Matsu (袈裟掛けの松), the pine tree on the roads between Harisuribashi and Inamuragasaki from which Nichiren hanged hiskesa (a Buddhiststole) while on his way to Ryūkō-ji.^[18] The original pine tree however died long ago and, after having been replaced many times, now no longer exists.^[18]

On July 3, 1333,^[20] warlordNitta Yoshisada, who was an Emperor loyalist, attacked Kamakura to reestablish imperial rule. After trying to enter by land through the Kewaizaka Pass and the Gokuraku-ji Pass, he and his forces waited for a low tide, bypassed theInamuragasaki cape, entered the city and took it.^[21]

In accounts of that disastrous Hōjō defeat it is recorded that nearly 900 Hōjō samurai, including the last three Regents, committed suicide at their family temple,Tōshō-ji, whose ruins have been found in today'sŌmachi. Almost the entire clan vanished at once, the city was sacked and many temples were burned.^[a] Many simple citizens imitated the Hōjō, and an estimated total of over 6,000 died on that day of their own hand.^[21] In 1953, 556 skeletons of that period were found during excavations near Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū's Ichi no Torii in Yuigahama, all of people who had died of a violent death, probably at the hand of Nitta's forces.

The fall of Kamakura marks the beginning of an era in Japanese history characterized by chaos and violence called theMuromachi period. Kamakura's decline was slow, and in fact the next phase of its history, in which, as the capital of theKantō region, it dominated the east of the country, lasted almost as long as the shogunate had.^[22] Kamakura would come out of it almost completely destroyed.^[23]

The situation in Kantō after 1333 continued to be tense, with Hōjō supporters staging sporadic revolts here and there.^[24] In 1335,Hōjō Tokiyuki, son of lastregentTakatoki, tried to re-establish the shogunate by force and defeated Kamakura'sde facto rulerAshikaga Tadayoshi in Musashi, in today'sKanagawa Prefecture.^[25] He was in his turn defeated inKoshigoe byAshikaga Takauji, who had come in force from Kyoto to help his brother.^[23][25]

Takauji, founder of theAshikaga shogunate which, at least nominally, ruled Japan during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, at first established his residence at the same site in Kamakura where Yoritomo'sŌkura Bakufu had been, but in 1336 he left Kamakura in charge of his sonYoshiakira and went west in pursuit of Nitta Yoshisada.^[24] The Ashikaga then decided to permanently stay in Kyoto, making Kamakura instead the capital of theKamakura-fu (鎌倉府) (orKantō-fu (関東府)), a region including the provinces ofSagami,Musashi,Awa,Kazusa,Shimōsa,Hitachi,Kozuke,Shimotsuke,Kai, andIzu, to which were later addedMutsu andDewa, making it the equivalent to today's Kanto, plus theShizuoka andYamanashi Prefectures.^[22]

Kamakura's ruler was calledkantō kubō, a title equivalent toshōgun assumed by Ashikaga Takauji's sonMotouji after his nomination toKantōkanrei, or deputyshōgun, in 1349.^[26] Motouji transferred his original title to theUesugi family, which had previously held the hereditary title ofshitsuji (執事), and would thereafter provide theKantō kanrei.^[26] Motouji had been sent by his father because this last understood the importance of controlling the Kantō region and wanted to have an Ashikaga in power there, but the administration in Kamakura was from the beginning characterized by its rebelliousness, so theshōgun's idea never really worked and actually backfired.^[27] Thekantō kubō era is essentially a struggle for the shogunate between the Kamakura and the Kyoto branches of the Ashikaga clan, because both believed they had a valid claim to power.^[28] In the end, Kamakura had to be retaken by force in 1454.^[26] The fivekubō recorded by history, all of Motouji's bloodline, were in order Motouji himself,Ujimitsu,Mitsukane,Mochiuji andShigeuji.^[26] The lastkubō had to escape toKoga, in today's Ibaraki prefecture, and he and his descendants thereafter became known as thekoga kubō. According to theShinpen Kamakurashi, a guide book published in 1685, more than two centuries later the spot where thekubō's mansion had been was still left empty by local peasants in the hope he may one day return.

A long period of chaos and war followed the departure of the lastkantō kubō (theSengoku period). Kamakura was heavily damaged in 1454 and almost completely burned during theSiege of Kamakura (1526).^[23] Many of its citizens moved to Odawara when it came to prominence as the home town of theLater Hōjō clan.^[21] The final blow to the city was the decision taken in 1603 by theTokugawashōgun to move the capital to nearbyEdo, the place now called Tokyo.^[21] The city never recovered and gradually returned to be the small fishing village it had been before Yoritomo's arrival.^[21] Edmond Papinot'sHistorical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan, published in 1910 during the late Meiji period, describes it as follows:

Kamakura. A small town (7250 inh.) inSagami which for several centuries was the second capital of Japan. [...] At present there remain of the splendor of the past only the famous Daibutsu and the Tsurugaoka Hachiman temple.^[29]

After theMeiji Restoration, Kamakura's great cultural assets, its beach, and the mystique that surrounded its name made it as popular as it is now, and for essentially the same reasons.^[21] The destruction of its heritage nonetheless did not stop: during the anti-Buddhist violence of 1868 (haibutsu kishaku) that followed the official policy of separation of Shinto and Buddhism (shinbutsu bunri) many of the city temples were damaged.^[30] In other cases, because mixing the two religions was now forbidden, shrines or temples had to give away some of their treasures, thus damaging their cultural heritage and decreasing the value of their properties.^[30] Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū's giantNiō (仁王) (the two wooden warden gods usually found at the sides of a Buddhist temple's entrance), for example, being objects of Buddhist worship and therefore illegal where they were, were brought to Jufuku-ji, where they still are.^[21][31]

Theshrine also had to destroy Buddhism-related buildings, for example itstahōtō tower, itsmidō (御堂), and itsshichidō garan.^[30] Some Buddhist temples were simply closed, likeZenkō-ji, to which the now-independentMeigetsu-in used to belong.^[32]

In 1890, the railroad, which until then had arrived just to Ofuna, reached Kamakura bringing in tourists and new residents, and with them a new prosperity.^[21] Part of the ancient Dankazura (see above) was removed to let the railway system's new Yokosuka Line pass.

The damage caused by time, centuries of neglect, politics, and modernization was further compounded by nature in 1923. The epicenter of theGreat Kantō earthquake that year was deep beneathIzu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay, a short distance from Kamakura. Tremors devastated Tokyo, the port city ofYokohama, and the surrounding prefectures ofChiba,Kanagawa, andShizuoka, causing widespread damage throughout the Kantō region.^[33] It was reported that the sea receded at an unprecedented velocity, and then waves rushed back towards the shore in a great wall of water over seven meters high, drowning some and crushing others beneath an avalanche of waterborne debris. The total death toll from earthquake, tsunami, and fire exceeded 2,000 victims.^[34] Large sections of the shore simply slid into the sea; and the beach area near Kamakura was raised up about six-feet; or in other words, where there had only been a narrow strip of sand along the sea, a wide expanse of sand was fully exposed above the waterline.^[35]

Many temples founded centuries ago have required restoration, and it is for this reason that Kamakura has just oneNational Treasure in the building category (the Shariden atEngaku-ji). Much of Kamakura's heritage was for various reasons over the centuries first lost and later rebuilt.^[36]

Surrounded to the north, east, and west by hills and to the south by the open water ofSagami Bay, Kamakura is a natural fortress.^[37] Before the construction of several tunnels and modern roads that now connect it toFujisawa,Ofuna [ja], andZushi, on land it could be entered only through narrow artificial passes, among which the seven most important were calledKamakura's Seven Entrances (鎌倉七口), a name sometimes translated as'Kamakura's Seven Mouths'. The natural fortification made Kamakura an easily defensible stronghold.^[37]

Before the opening of the Entrances, access on land was so difficult that theAzuma Kagami reports that Hōjō Masako came back to Kamakura from a visit to Sōtōzan temple in Izu bypassing by boat the impassableInamuragasaki cape and arriving in Yuigahama.^[37] Again according to the Azuma Kagami, the first of theKamakurashōgun,Minamoto no Yoritomo, chose it as a base partly because it was his ancestors' land (hisyukari no chi), and partly because of these physical characteristics.^[37]

To the north of the city stands Mt. Genji (源氏山,Genjiyama) (92 m (302 ft)), which then passes behind theDaibutsu and reaches Inamuragasaki and the sea.^[38]

From the north to the east, Kamakura is surrounded by Mt. Rokkokuken (六国見) (147 m (482 ft)), Mt. Ōhira (大平山) (159 m (522 ft)), Mt. Jubu (鷲峰山) (127 m (417 ft)), Mt. Tendai (天台山) (141 m (463 ft)), and Mt. Kinubari (衣張山) (120 m (390 ft)), which extend all the way to Iijimagasaki andWakae Island, on the border withKotsubo andZushi.^[38] From Kamakura's alluvional plain branch off numerous narrow valleys like the Urigayatsu, Shakadōgayatsu, Ōgigayatsu, Kamegayatsu, Hikigayatsu, and Matsubagayatsu valleys.^[b]

Kamakura is crossed by theNamerigawa river, which goes from theAsaina Pass in northern Kamakura to the beach inYuigahama for a total length of about 8 kilometers (5 mi). The river marks the border betweenZaimokuza and Yuigahama.

In administrative terms, the municipality of Kamakura borders withYokohama to the north, with Zushi to the east, and with Fujisawa to the west.^[38] It includes many areas outside the Seven Entrances as Yamanouchi,Koshigoe (腰越),Shichirigahama, and Ofuna, and is the result of the fusion of Kamakura proper with the cities ofKoshigoe, absorbed in 1939, Ofuna, absorbed in 1948, and with the village of Fukasawa, absorbed in 1948.

Northwest of Kamakura lies Yamanouchi, commonly called Kita-Kamakura because of the presence ofEast Japan Railway Company's (JR)Kita-Kamakura Station. Yamanouchi, however, was technically never a part of historical Kamakura since it is outside the Seven Entrances. Yamanouchi was the northern border of the city during the shogunate,^[39] and the importantKobukorozaka andKamegayatsu Passes, two of Kamakura's Seven Entrances, led directly to it. Its name at the time used to be Sakado-gō (尺度郷).^[40] The border post used to lie about a hundred meters past today's Kita-Kamakura train station inOfuna's direction.^[39]

Although very small, Yamanouchi is famous for its traditional atmosphere and the presence, among others, of three of the five highest-rankingRinzaiZen temples in Kamakura, theKamakura Gozan (鎌倉五山). These three great temples were built here because Yamanouchi was the home territory of theHōjō clan, a branch of the Taira clan which ruled Japan for 150 years. Among Kita-Kamakura's most illustrious citizens were artistIsamu Noguchi and movie directorYasujirō Ozu. Ozu is buried atEngaku-ji.

Kamakura's defining feature isTsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, aShinto shrine in the center of the city. A 1.8-kilometre (1.1 mi) road (参道,sandō) runs fromSagami Bay directly to the shrine. This road is known asWakamiya Ōji, the city's main street. Built byMinamoto no Yoritomo as an imitation of Kyoto'sSuzaku Ōji, Wakamiya Ōji used to be much wider, delimited on both sides by a 3-metre-deep (9.8 ft) canal and flanked by pine trees.^[41]

Walking from the beach toward the shrine, one passes through threetorii, or Shinto gates, called respectivelyIchi no Torii ('first gate'),Ni no Torii ('second gate') andSan no Torii ('third gate'). Between the first and the second liesGeba Yotsukado which, as the name indicates, was the place where riders had to get off their horses in deference toHachiman and his shrine.^[41]

Approximately 100 metres (330 ft) after the secondtorii, thedankazura, a raised pathway flanked by cherry trees that marks the center of Kamakura, begins. Thedankazura becomes gradually wider, giving the effect of looking longer than it really is when viewed from the shrine. Its entire length is under the direct administration of the shrine. Minamoto no Yoritomo made his father-in-lawHōjō Tokimasa and his men carry by hand the stones to build it to pray for the safe delivery of his sonYoriie. Thedankazura used to go all the way to Geba, but it was drastically shortened during the 19th century to make way for the newly constructedYokosuka railroad line.^[41]

In Kamakura, wide streets are known asŌji (大路), narrower streets asKōji (小路), the small streets that connect the two aszushi (辻子), and intersections astsuji (辻).Komachi Ōji andIma Kōji run respectively east and west of Wakamiya Ōji, whileYoko Ōji, the road that passes right underSan no Torii, andŌmachi Ōji, which goes fromKotsubo toGeba andHase, run in the east–west direction.^[41] Near the remains ofHama no Ōtorii runs Kuruma Ōji Avenue (also called Biwa Koji). These six streets (three running north to south and three east to west) were built at the time of the shogunate and are all still under heavy use. The only one to have been modified is Kuruma Ōji, a segment of which has disappeared.

Per Japanese census data,^[42][43] the population of Kamakura has remained relatively steady in recent decades.

Kamakura has many historically significantBuddhist temples andShinto shrines, some of them, like Sugimoto-dera, over 1,200 years old.Kōtoku-in, with its monumental outdoor bronzestatue ofAmida Buddha, is the most famous. A 15th-centurytsunami destroyed the temple that once housed the Great Buddha, but the statue survived and has remained outdoors ever since. This iconic Daibutsu is arguably amongst the few images which have come to represent Japan in the world's collective imagination. Kamakura also hosts the so-called Five Great Zen Temples (theKamakura Gozan).

The architectural heritage of Kamakura is almost unmatched, and the city has proposedsome of its historic sites for inclusion inUNESCO'sWorld Heritage Sites list. Although much of the city was devastated in the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, damaged temples and shrines, founded centuries ago, have since been carefully restored.

Some of Kamakura's highlights are:

Besides the Seven Entrances there is another great pass in the city, the huge Shakadō Pass (釈迦堂切通), which connects Shakadōgayatsu^[15] to the Ōmachi and Nagoe (formerly called Nagoshi) districts.

According to the plaque near the pass itself, the name derives from the fact that thirdShikkenHōjō Yasutoki built here a Shakadō (a Buddhist temple devoted toShakyamuni) dedicated to his fatherYoshitoki's memory. The original location of the temple is unclear, but it was closed some time in the middleMuromachi period.^[45] TheShaka Nyorai statue that is supposed to have been its main object of cult has been declared anImportant Cultural Property and is conserved at Daien-ji inMeguro, Tokyo.^[45]

Although important, the pass was not considered one of the Entrances because it connected two areas both fully within Kamakura.^[41] Its date of creation is unclear, as it is not explicitly mentioned in any historical record, and it could be therefore recent.^[41] It seems very likely however that a pass which connected the Kanazawa Road to the Nagoe area called Inukakezaka (犬懸坂) and mentioned in theGenpei Jōsuiki (源平盛哀記) in relation to an 1180 war inKotsubo between theMiura clan and theHatakeyama clan is indeed the Shakadō Pass.^[45] In any case, the presence of twoyagura tombs within it means that it can be dated to at least the Kamakura period. It was then an important way of transit, but it was also much narrower than today and harder to pass.^[45]

Inside the pass, there are two smallyagura tombs containing somegorintō. On the Shakadōgayatsu side of the pass, just before the first houses a small street on the left takes to a large group ofyagura calledShakadōgayatsu Yagura-gun.^[45] There rest the bones of some of the hundreds of Hōjō family members who committed suicide atTōshō-ji after the fall of Kamakura in 1333.^[45]

The pass appears many times in some recent Japanese films like"The Blue Light",Tada, Kimi o Aishiteru, and'Peeping Tom' (真木栗ノ穴,Makiguri no ana). The pass is presently closed to all traffic because of the danger posed by falling rocks.

On April 28, 2010, a day of heavy rain, a large section of rock on the Omachi side of the Shakado Pass gave way, making the road temporarily impassable for pedestrians.

An important and characteristic feature of Kamakura is a type of grave calledyagura (やぐら).^[46]Yagura are caves dug on the side of hills during the Middle Ages to serve as tombs for high-ranking personalities and priests.^[46] Two famous examples are Hōjō Masako's and Minamoto no Sanetomo'scenotaphs inJufuku-ji's cemetery, about 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) fromKamakura Station.

Usually present in the cemetery of mostBuddhist temples in the town, they are extremely numerous also in the hills surrounding it, and estimates of their number always put them in the thousands.^[46]Yagura can be found either isolated or in groups of even 180 graves, as in the Hyakuhachi Yagura (百八やぐら).^[46] Many are now abandoned and in a bad state of preservation.^[46]

The reason why they were dug is not known, but it is thought likely that the tradition started because of the lack of flat land within the narrow limits of Kamakura's territory. Started during theKamakura period (1185–1333), the tradition seems to have declined during the followingMuromachi period, when storehouses and cemeteries came to be preferred.

Trueyagura can be found also in theMiura Peninsula, in theIzu Peninsula, and even in distantAwa Province (Chiba).^[46]

Tombs in caves can also be found in theTōhoku region, nearHiroshima andKyoto, and inIshikawa Prefecture, however they are not calledyagura and their relationship with those in Kanagawa Prefecture is unknown.

Kamakura has many festivals (matsuri (祭り)) and other events in each of the seasons, usually based on its rich historical heritage. They are often sponsored by private businesses and, unlike those inKyoto, they are relatively small-scale events attended mostly by locals and a few tourists.^[47] January in particular has many because it is the first month of the year, so authorities, fishermen, businesses and artisans organize events to pray for their own health and safety, and for a good and prosperous working year. Kamakura's numerous temples and shrines, first among them city symbols Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and Kenchō-ji, organize many events too, bringing the total to over a hundred.^[47]

• January 4:Chōna-hajimeshiki (手斧初式) at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū: This event marks the beginning of the working year for local construction workers who, for the ceremony, use traditional working tools.^[47] The festival also commemorates Minamoto no Yoritomo, who ordered the reconstruction of the main building of the shrine after it was destroyed by fire in 1191.^[47] The ceremony takes place at 1:00 pm at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū.^[48]

• Day before the first day of spring (usually February 3):Setsubun Matsuri (節分祭) at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū,Kenchō-ji,Hase-dera,Kamakura-gū, etc.: Celebration of the end of winter.^[47] Soybeans are scattered in the air to ensure good luck.^[47]

• 2nd to 3rd Sunday:Kamakura Matsuri at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and other locations: A whole week of events that celebrate the city and its history.^[47]

• May 5:Kusajishi (草鹿) at the Kamakura Shrine: Archers in samurai gear shoot arrows at a straw deer while reciting old poems.^[47]

• August 10 (or following Monday if it falls on a Saturday): A full hour of fireworks on the beach inYuigahama.^[48]

• September 14, 15 and 16:Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū Reitaisai (鶴岡八幡宮例大祭): Famous festival with many attractions, the most famous of which is theyabusame (流鏑馬), or Japanese horseback archery, which takes place on the 16th.^[48]

JR East'sYokosuka Line has three stations within the city.Ōfuna Station is the northernmost. Next isKita-Kamakura Station. In the center of the city isKamakura Station, the central railway station in the city.

Kamakura Station is the terminal for theEnoshima Electric Railway. This railway runs westward toFujisawa, and part of its route runs parallel to the seashore. After leaving Kamakura Station, trains make eight more station stops in the city. One of them isHase Station, closest toHase-dera andKōtoku-in. The next station on the line isGokurakuji Station, one of the settings for the 2014 filmOur Little Sister.

• National Route 134

Kamakura has many educational facilities. The city operates sixteen public elementary schools and nine middle schools. The national government has one elementary and one middle school, and there are two private elementary and six private middle schools. At the next level are four prefectural and six private high schools. Also in Kamakura is a prefectural special school.

Kamakura Women's University is the city's sole university.

Kamakura has a mayor and a city council, all publicly elected. The mayor is Takashi Matsuo.^[49] The City Council consists of 28 members.

Kamakura has sixsister cities. Three are in Japan and three are overseas:^[50]

•  Nice, France, since 1966^[51]
•  Ueda, Nagano, Japan, since 1979
•  Hagi, Yamaguchi, Japan, since 1979
•  Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan, since 1982
•  Dunhuang, China, since 1998
•  Nashville, Tennessee, United States, since 2014

Kamakura has many historical houses.Tukikagetei is one of the famous houses. It had constructed 100 years ago in theTaisho era. But now,Fukagawa Geisha uses this house for their lives.

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• Official Website(in Japanese)
• Kanagawa Official Tourism Website(in English)
•   Geographic data related toKamakura atOpenStreetMap