Yamanouchi, Kamakura

Last updated February 24, 2019

Yamanouchi(山ノ内 or 山之内) 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.

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture located in Kantō region of Japan. The capital of the prefecture is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. Kanagawa Prefecture is home to Kamakura and Hakone, two highly popular side trip destinations from Tokyo.

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south.

East Japan Railway Company is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as JR Higashi-Nihon in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo.

History

Yamanouchi used to be the northern border of the city during the shogunate.^[1] The border post was about a hundred meters from today's Ōfuna Station.^[1] The name of the area during the Kamakura shogunate used to be Sakado-gō(尺度郷).^[2] During the Muromachi period Yamanouchi also gave its name to the Yamanouchi branch of the Uesugi clan.

Ōfuna Station railway station in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Ōfuna Station is a railway station in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company.

The Kamakura shogunate was a Japanese feudal military government of imperial-aristocratic rule that ruled from 1185 to 1333. The heads of the government were the shōguns. The first three were members of the Minamoto clan. The next two were members of the Fujiwara clan. The last six were minor Imperial princes.

The Muromachi period is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shōgun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kenmu Restoration (1333–36) of imperial rule was brought to a close. The period ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shogun of this line, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, was driven out of the capital in Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga.

The land where the station itself stands used to be part of Engaku-ji, but it was expropriated during the Meiji period to let the Yokosuka Line pass through.^[1] The area nonetheless has not changed much, and is still visually an integral part of the temple. Within it, under the road next to the bridge on the Meigetsu river, was buried a famous and magical stele, the Seimeiseki(晴明石).^[1] According to the legend, it was buried there in Heian times by Abe no Seimei as an offering.^[1] It was dug up accidentally by US military bulldozers after World War II and now it is kept in nearby Yakumo Jinja.^[1]

Zuirokusan Engaku Kōshō Zenji (瑞鹿山円覚興聖禅寺), or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa prefecture to the south of Tokyo.

The Yokosuka Line is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company.

The Heian period is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height. The Heian period is also considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature. Although the Imperial House of Japan had power on the surface, the real power was in the hands of the Fujiwara clan, a powerful aristocratic family who had intermarried with the imperial family. Many emperors actually had mothers from the Fujiwara family. Heian (平安) means "peace" in Japanese.

Although very small, Yamanouchi is famous for its traditional atmosphere and the presence, among others, of three of the five highest-ranking Rinzai Zen temples in Kamakura, the Kamakura Five Zen Temples, or Kamakura Gozan . These three great temples were built here because Yamanouchi was the home territory of the Hōjō clan, the family which ruled Japan for 150 years.

Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty as the Chan school (Chánzong) of Chinese Buddhism and later developed into various schools. Chán Buddhism was also influenced by Taoist philosophy, especially Neo-Daoist thought. From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen.

Five Mountain System network of state-sponsored Chan/Zen temples; created in China during the Southern Song; adopted in Japan during the late Kamakura period

The Five Mountains and Ten Monasteries System system, more commonly called simply Five Mountain System, was a network of state-sponsored Chan (Zen) Buddhist temples created in China during the Southern Song (1127–1279). The term "mountain" in this context means "temple" or "monastery", and was adopted because many monasteries were built on isolated mountains. The system originated in India and was later adopted also in Japan during the late Kamakura period (1185–1333).

Hōjō clan clan who controlled the Kamakura Shogunate as shikken (regent) in Japan

The Hōjō clan in the history of Japan was a family who controlled the hereditary title of shikken (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual governmental power during this period compared to both the Kamakura shōguns, or the Imperial Court in Kyoto, whose authority was largely symbolic. The Hōjō are known for fostering Zen Buddhism and for leading the successful opposition to the Mongol invasions of Japan. Resentment at Hōjō rule eventually culminated in the overthrow of the clan and the establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate.

Notable temples

Kenchō-ji. This huge temple is, together with Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, the symbol of the city of Kamakura.^[3] It's number one of the Five Zen Temples, the oldest in Kamakura (built 1253) and one of the oldest in all Japan. The temple bell has been designated a National Treasure and there's a nice Zen garden as well.
Engaku-ji. Number two of Kamakura's Five Zen Temples, founded in 1282 to commemorate soldiers who fell fighting off the Mongol invasion the previous year. The Shariden building on the grounds is reputed to contain one of the teeth of the Buddha. The movie director Yasujirō Ozu is buried here. Detailed instructions to find his grave can be found here.^[4]
Meigetsu-in, nicknamed "Temple of Hydrangeas" (ajisai-dera) with its round door outlining a landscape which changes with the seasons.
Chōju-ji, formerly one of the Ashikaga clan's family temples, in 2008 for the first time opened its doors to visitors. Dedicated to shōgun Ashikaga Takauji, the temple's cemetery contains one of his two graves (the other is at Tō-in in Kyoto).
Tōkei-ji is a nunnery famous in the feudal days for sheltering abused women, who could obtain a divorce by staying here for three years. There used to be in Kamakura a goze system of nunneries, of which this temple is the only survivor.^[5] Has a large graveyard. Also called Kakekomidera (the fugitive temple), and famous for its hydrangeas.
Jōchi-ji is ranked four of the five. Technically a branch of Engaku-ji, it is on the opposite side of the railroad tracks and just a few hundred meters away.

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.

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in the 1930s.

Fugenzan Meigetsu-in (福源山明月院) is a Rinzai Zen temple of the Kenchō-ji school in Kita-Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan. Famous for its hydrangeas, it's also known as The Temple of Hydrangeas (ajisai-dera). The main object of worship is goddess Shō Kannon (聖観音).

Notable residents

The artist Isamu Noguchi lived and worked here in 1952. Film director Yasujirō Ozu lived near Jōchi-ji from 1952 until his death.

Isamu Noguchi was a Japanese American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public works, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several mass-produced lamps and furniture pieces, some of which are still manufactured and sold.

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 6 Ōnuki (2008:50)
↑ Yume Kōbō (2008:4)
↑ Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008:170-188)
↑ http://www.easterwood.org/ozu/gravesite/directions.htm
↑ Harada (2007:41)

Related Research Articles

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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.

Hōkizan Chōju Zenji (宝亀山長寿禅寺) is a Rinzai Buddhist temple of the Kenchō-ji school in Yamanouchi, near Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It lies between two Kita-Kamakura landmarks, the entrance of the Kamegayatsu Pass and Kenchō-ji, the oldest Zen monastery in Japan. Chōju-ji is one of two bodaiji (菩提寺), or funeral temples, dedicated to Ashikaga Takauji, founder of the dynasty of shōguns that carries his name. In its garden there are a gorintō dedicated to the shōgun and a hōkyōintō containing some of his hair. Chōju-ji has recently opened for the first time its doors, and receives visitors from Friday to Sunday, 10 AM to 3 PM. The temple allows the use of pocket cameras, however professional and semiprofessional equipment are forbidden, the reason being that visitors should not visit the temple to take photographs.

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Kinryūzan Shakuman-in Endon Hōkai-ji (金龍山釈満院円頓宝戒寺) is a Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Often called Hagidera (萩寺), or "bush-clover temple", because those flowers are numerous in its garden, its existence is directly linked to a famous tragedy that on July 4, 1333 wiped out almost the entire Hōjō clan, ruler of Japan for 135 years. The temple was founded expressly to enshrine the souls of the 870 members of the clan who, in accordance with the samurai code of honor, committed suicide on that day at their family temple (bodaiji) of Tōshō-ji to escape defeat. Together with ancient Sugimoto-dera, Hōkai-ji is the only temple of the Tendai denomination in Kamakura. Formerly a branch temple of the great Kan'ei-ji, after its destruction it became a branch of Enryaku-ji.

Hōkoku-ji (報国寺) is an old temple in the Kenchō-ji school of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism located in Kamakura, Japan. Famous for its bamboo garden, it is also known as "Bamboo Temple".

Mugaku Sogen (無学祖元), also known as Bukko Kokushi was a prominent Zen Buddhist monk of the 13th century in Japan, an emigre from Song dynasty China. He was adviser to Japan's most powerful ruler of the day, the regent of the shōgun (Shikken) Hōjō Tokimune. He founded the Zen temple Engaku-ji in Kamakura, one of Japan's five most important Zen temples.

References

Harada, Hiroshi (2007). Kamakura no Koji (in Japanese). JTB Publishing. ISBN 4-533-07104-X.
Ōnuki, Akihiko (2008). Kamakura. Rekishi to Fushigi wo Aruku (in Japanese). Tokyo: Jitsugyō no Nihonsha. ISBN 978-4-408-59306-7.
Kita-Kamakura Yūsui Network (2008). Gaidobukku ni Noranai Kita/Kamakura (in Japanese). Yume Kōbō. ISBN 978-4-86158-026-0.
A Brief History of Kamakura

External links

Welcome To Kita-Kamakura Site of the Kita-Kamakura Commerce and Tourism Association (北鎌倉の商観光を考える会) (In Japanese)
Directions to Yasujirō Ozu's Grave

Coordinates: 35°20′13.60″N139°32′43.96″E / 35.3371111°N 139.5455444°E / 35.3371111; 139.5455444

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[onuki50-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ōnuki (2008:50)

[2] Yume Kōbō (2008:4)

[KOT170-3] Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008:170-188)

[4] ttp://www.easterwood.org/ozu/gravesite/directions.htm

[Harada41-5] Harada (2007:41)