Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [161]
Information
Kamakura Green Net (http://guide.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp) Has an English section with useful information about both living and sightseeing in Kamakura.
Post office (1-10-3 Komachi; 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, to 3pm Sat) With ATMs; a short walk from Kamakura Station’s east exit.
Tourist Information Center (22-3350; 9am-5.30pm Apr-Sep, to 5pm Oct-Mar) Just outside Kamakura Station’s east exit, this helpful tourist office distributes maps and brochures, such as the English guide Oshiete Kamakura, and can also make bookings for same-day accommodation.
Sights & Activities
ENGAKU-JI
Engaku-ji (22-0478; adult/child ¥300/100; 8am-5pm Apr-Oct, to 4pm Nov-Mar) is on the left as you exit Kita-Kamakura Station. It is one of the five main Rinzai Zen temples in Kamakura. Engaku-ji was founded in 1282, allegedly as a place where Zen monks might pray for soldiers who lost their lives defending Japan against Kublai Khan. Today, the only real reminder of the temple’s former magnificence and antiquity is the gate San-mon, a 1780 reconstruction. At the top of the long flight of stairs through the gate is the Engaku-ji bell, the largest bell in Kamakura, cast in 1301. The Hondō (Main Hall) inside San-mon is a recent reconstruction, dating from the mid-1960s. Public Zen meditation sessions are held on the second and fourth Sunday every month from 9am.
TŌKEI-JI
Across the railway tracks from Engaku-ji, Tōkei-ji (22-1663; admission ¥100; 8.30am-5pm Mar-Oct, to 4.30pm Nov-Feb) is notable for its lush grounds as much as for the temple itself. On weekdays, when visitors are few, it can be a pleasantly relaxing place.
Historically, the temple is famed as having served as a women’s refuge. A woman could be officially recognised as divorced after three years as a nun in the temple precincts. Today, there are no nuns; the grave of the last abbess can be found in the cemetery, shrouded by cypress trees.
JŌCHI-JI
A couple of minutes further on from Tōkei-ji is Jōchi-ji (22-3943; adult/child ¥200/100; 9am-4.30pm Mar-Oct, to 4pm Nov-Feb), another temple with pleasant grounds. Founded in 1283, this is considered one of Kamakura’s five great Zen temples, prized for its moss-covered entry, its bell tower and for the flowers that seem to explode here each spring.
DAIBUTSU HIKING COURSE
If time permits, consider taking the Daibutsu Hiking Course, which begins at the steps just up the lane from Jōchi-ji and follows a wooded path for 3km to the Daibutsu (allow about 1½ hours). Along the course you’ll pass the small shrine of Kuzuharagaoka-jinja, from which you’ll see signs to the landscaped park of Genjiyama-kōen (where you’ll see a statue of Minamoto Yoritomo). From here, head down the stairs, keep going down the hill and take a right to reach Zeniarai-benten (Money-washing Shrine; 25-1081; admission free; 8am-5pm), one of Kamakura’s most alluring Shintō shrines. A cave-like entrance leads to a clearing where visitors come to bathe their money in natural springs with the hope of bringing financial success. You can either return back up the steps to the path or continue down the paved road, turning right at the first intersection, walking along a path lined with cryptomeria and ascending up through the shrine of Sasuke-inari jinja (typical of inari shrines, it’s recognised by the succession of torii gates) before meeting up with the Daibutsu path once again.
KENCHŌ-JI
Continuing towards Kamakura along the main road from Jōchi-ji, on the left you’ll pass the turn-off to this temple (22-0981; adult/child ¥300/100; 8.30am-4.30pm), the first-ranked of the five great Zen temples. Founded in 1253, Kenchō-ji once comprised seven buildings and 49 subtemples, most of which were destroyed in the fires of the 14th and 15th centuries. However, the 17th and 18th centuries saw its restoration, and you can still get a sense of its splendour. Today, Kenchō-ji functions as a working monastery with 10 subtemples. Among