Kamakura officially Kamakura City is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 and a population 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.
In Japanese religion, Yahata formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements from both Shinto and Buddhism.
A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, the deities of the Shinto religion.
Tsurugaoka Hachimangū (鶴岡八幡宮) is the most important Shinto shrine in the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is a cultural center of the city of Kamakura and serves as the venue of many of its most important festivals with two museums.
Kenchō-ji (建長寺) is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. These temples were at the top of the Five Mountain System, a network of Zen temples started by the Hōjō Regents. Still very large, it originally had a full shichidō garan and 49 subtemples.
Harvest Festival is a fertility festival celebrated every year on March 15 in Japan. Hōnen means prosperous year in Japanese, implying a rich harvest, while a matsuri is a festival. The Hōnen festival and ceremony celebrate the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all manner of prosperity and fertility.
The Shinto Kanamara Matsuri is an annual Japanese festival held each spring at the Kanayama Shrine in Kawasaki, Japan. The exact dates vary: the main festivities fall on the first Sunday in April. The phallus, as the central theme of the event, is reflected in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a mikoshi parade. The shrine is part of the Wakamiya Hachimangu Shrine and located near Kawasaki-Daishi Station.
A Hachiman shrine is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the kami Hachiman. It is the second most numerous type of Shinto shrine after those dedicated to Inari Ōkami. There are about 44,000 Hachiman shrines.
The traditional lighting equipment of Japan includes the andon (行灯), the bonbori (雪洞), the chōchin (提灯), and the tōrō (灯篭).
Yamanouchi is a neighborhood of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Because of the presence of East Japan Railway Company's (JR) Kita-Kamakura Station, it is better known as Kita-Kamakura. It lies within the Ofuna administrative subdivision of the city of Kamakura.
Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine, popularly known simply as Zeniarai Benten, is a Shinto shrine in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. In spite of its small size, it is the second most popular spot in Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture after Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū. Zeniarai Benzaiten is popular among tourists because the waters of a spring in its cave are said to be able to multiply the money washed in it. The object of worship is a syncretic kami which fuses a traditional spirit called Ugafukujin (宇賀福神) with the Buddhist goddess of Indian origin Sarasvati, known in Japanese as Benzaiten. The shrine is one of the minority in Japan which still shows the fusion of native religious beliefs and foreign Buddhism which was normal before the Meiji restoration. Zeniarai Benzaiten used to be an external massha of Ōgigayatsu's Yazaka Daijin (八坂大神), but became independent in 1970 under its present name.
Kikokuzan Kongō Jufuku Zenji (亀谷山金剛寿福禅寺), usually known as Jufuku-ji, is a temple of the Kenchō-ji branch of the Rinzai sect and the oldest Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Ranked third among Kamakura's prestigious Five Mountains, it is number 24 among the Thirty-Three Kamakura Kannon pilgrimage temples and number 18 of the Kamakura Nijūyon Jizō (鎌倉二十四地蔵) temples. Its main object of worship is Shaka Nyorai.
Zaimokuza (材木座) is an area within the Kamakura, Kanagawa Pref., in Japan that runs along the sea from Cape Iijima near Kotsubo harbor to the estuary of the Namerigawa. The relation between the beach's name and that of its neighboring areas is complex. Although Yuigahama is in fact the entire 3.2 km beach that goes from Inamuragasaki to Zaimokuza's Iijima cape, the name is usually used to indicate just its half west of the Namerigawa river, while the eastern half is called Zaimokuza Beach (材木座海岸). This is the reason why, although the beach gives its name to only the west part of the beachside area, traces of the name Yuigahama can be found also in Zaimokuza.
Moto Hachiman (元八幡) is a small but very old and historically important Shinto shrine in Kamakura, Kanagawa Pref., Japan.
Tenshōzan Renge-in Kōmyō-ji (天照山蓮華院光明寺) is a Buddhist temple of the Jōdo sect in Zaimokuza, near Kamakura, Japan, the only major one in the city to be close to the sea. Kōmyō-ji is number one among the Kantō Jūhachi Danrin (関東十八檀林), a group of 18 Jōdo temples established during the Edo period by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and dedicated to both the training of priests and scholarly research. It is also the sect's head temple for the Kantō region. In spite of the fact it is a Jōdo sect temple, Kōmyō-ji has several of the typical features of a Zen temple, for example a sanmon, a pond and a karesansui.
The Kamakura Museum of National Treasures or Kamakura Museum or Kamakura National Treasure House is a museum located on the grounds of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in Yukinoshita, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The museum houses around 4800 objects from the Kamakura region including sculptures, paintings and industrial art objects. Most of these works originate from the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, spanning from the 12th to the 16th century. Some of the items were produced in China and imported to Japan.
Ōkunitama Shrine is a shrine located in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan. Six shrines in Musashi province were consolidated and their gods enshrined there. Ōkunitama is now known as one of the five major shrines in Tokyo, the others being the Tokyo Great Shrine, Yasukuni Shrine, Hie Shrine and Meiji Shrine.
Chiba Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chūō-ku, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture. Originally a Buddhist temple dedicated to the deity Myōken, the patron of the Chiba clan, it was converted into a Shinto shrine dedicated to Ame-no-Minakanushi during the Meiji period.
Gosho no Gorōmaru was a Japanese samurai lord and retainer of the Kamakura Shogunate in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. He is best known for saving the shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo during the Revenge of the Soga Brothers incident in 1193 by capturing Soga Tokimune. According to legend, he was the lord of Tobe. His legacy survives in noh and kabuki drama and in place names in Kanagawa Prefecture. In kabuki he is known as Gosho no Gorozō. His imina is Shigemune (重宗) but he is best known by his azana Gorōmaru.
Himure Hachiman-gū (日牟禮八幡宮) is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Ōmihachiman, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The city is named after this shrine, and it is located within the Omihachiman City Traditional Buildings Preservation Area. The shrine has two main festivals, the Sagichō Matsuri (左義長まつり) and the Hachiman Matsuri (八幡まつり) which are both designated National Intangible Folk Cultural Properties.
