Editing Kamakura (section)

== Notable locations ==
[[File:Kamakura Budda Daibutsu front 1885.jpg|thumb|The statue of [[Amitābha|Amida Buddha]] at [[Kōtoku-in]]]]
[[File:TsurugaokaHachimangu by ulysses powers in Kamakura.jpg|thumb|Visitors crowd the entrance way of [[Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū]]]]
[[File:Sasuke Inari Shrine.jpg|thumb|[[Sasuke Inari Shrine]]'s entrance]]
Kamakura has many historically significant [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] temples and [[Shinto]] shrines, some of them, like Sugimoto-dera, over 1,200 years old. [[Kōtoku-in]], with its monumental outdoor bronze [[statue]] of [[Amitābha|Amida Buddha]], is the most famous. A 15th-century [[tsunami]] 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 (the {{transliteration|ja|[[Five Mountain System|Kamakura Gozan]]}}).

The architectural heritage of Kamakura is almost unmatched, and the city has proposed [[Kamakura's World Heritage proposed sites|some of its historic sites]] for inclusion in [[UNESCO]]'s [[World Heritage Site]]s 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:

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* The [[Kamakura's Seven Entrances|Asaina Pass]] and its [[Kumano Jinja (Asaina Pass)|Kumano Jinja]]
* [[Ankokuron-ji]]
* [[An'yō-in (Kamakura)|An'yō-in]]
* [[Chōju-ji (Kamakura)|Chōju-ji]], one of Ashikaga Takauji's two {{transliteration|ja|[[bodaiji]]}} (funeral temples)
* [[Engaku-ji]], ranked Number Two among Kamakura's Great Zen Temples
* [[Hatakeyama Shigeyasu's grave]]
* [[Hōkai-ji (Kamakura)|Hōkai-ji]], dedicated to the memory of the Hōjō clan
* [[Jōchi-ji]], ranked Number Four among Kamakura's Great Zen Temples
* [[Jōmyō-ji (Kamakura)|Jōmyō-ji]] temple, ranked Number Five among Kamakura's Great Zen Temples
* [[Jufuku-ji]], ranked Number Three among Kamakura's Great Zen Temples
* [[Kaikōzan Hase-dera|Hase-dera]]
* [[Kamakura-gū]] in [[Nikaidō]], built on the spot where [[Prince Morinaga]], son of Emperor [[Go-Daigo]], was imprisoned and then beheaded by [[Ashikaga Tadayoshi]] in 1335.
* The [[Kamakura Museum of Literature]], the former villa of Marquises Maeda
* [[Kamakura Museum of National Treasures]]
* [[Kanagawa Prefectural Ofuna Botanical Garden]]
* [[Kenchō-ji]], ranked Number One among Kamakura's Great Zen Temples and, together with Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, the pride of the city
* [[Kōmyō-ji (Kamakura)|Kōmyō-ji]]
* [[Kōtoku-in]] and its Great Buddha
* [[Meigetsu-in]]
* [[Moto Hachiman]]
* [[Myōhon-ji]]
* [[Ōfuna Kannon]]<ref>See also [http://guide.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/eng/stroll/scene/kanmon.htm Ofuna Kannonji Temple] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203520/http://guide.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/eng/stroll/scene/kanmon.htm |date=2007-09-27 }}</ref>
* Katase's [[Ryūkō-ji (Fujisawa)|Ryūkō-ji]]
* [[Sasuke Inari Shrine]] and Hidden Village
* The Shakadō Pass (see description below)
* [[Sugimoto-dera]]
* [[Tamanawa Castle]], Castle ruins of [[Later Hōjō clan]]
* Tatsunokuchi, where [[Mongol invasions of Japan|Mongol]] emissaries were beheaded and buried.
* [[Tōkei-ji]], famous in the past as a refuge for battered women
* [[Tomb of Minamoto no Yoritomo]]
* [[Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū]], symbol of the city
* [[Wakamiya Ōji]] Avenue with its three {{transliteration|ja|torii}} and cherry trees
* [[Yuigahama]], a popular beach
* [[Zeniarai Benten shrine|Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine]], where visitors go to wash their coins
* [[Zuisen-ji]], funeral temple of the Ashikaga {{transliteration|ja|[[Kantō kubō|kubō]]}}, rulers in Kamakura during the early [[Muromachi period]]
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=== {{Anchor|Shakado}}Shakadō Pass ===
[[File:Shakado-Pass,-Omachi-side.jpg|thumb|The [[Ōmachi (Kanagawa)|Ōmachi]]-side of the Shakadō Pass]]
Besides the Seven Entrances there is another great pass in the city, the huge {{Nihongo|Shakadō Pass|釈迦堂切通}}, which connects Shakadōgayatsu<ref name="yatsu" /> to the Ōmachi and Nagoe (formerly called Nagoshi) districts.

According to the plaque near the pass itself, the name derives from the fact that third [[Shikken]] [[Hōjō Yasutoki]] built here a Shakadō (a Buddhist temple devoted to [[Gautama Buddha|Shakyamuni]]) dedicated to his father [[Hōjō Yoshitoki|Yoshitoki]]'s memory. The original location of the temple is unclear, but it was closed some time in the middle [[Muromachi period]].<ref name="Kamiya71">Kamiya Vol. 1 (2006/08: 71 – 72)</ref> The [[Buddharupa|Shaka Nyorai]] statue that is supposed to have been its main object of cult has been declared an [[Important Cultural Properties of Japan|Important Cultural Property]] and is conserved at Daien-ji in [[Meguro]], Tokyo.<ref name="Kamiya71" />

Although important, the pass was not considered one of the Entrances because it connected two areas both fully within Kamakura.<ref name="KOT56" /> Its date of creation is unclear, as it is not explicitly mentioned in any historical record, and it could be therefore recent.<ref name="KOT56" /> It seems very likely however that a pass which connected the Kanazawa Road to the Nagoe area called {{Nihongo|Inukakezaka|犬懸坂}} and mentioned in the {{Nihongo|[[Genpei Jōsuiki]]|源平盛哀記}} in relation to an 1180 war in [[Kotsubo]] between the [[Miura clan]] and the [[Hatakeyama clan]] is indeed the Shakadō Pass.<ref name="Kamiya71" /> In any case, the presence of two {{transliteration|ja|[[yagura (tombs)|yagura]]}} 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.<ref name="Kamiya71" />

Inside the pass, there are two small {{transliteration|ja|yagura}} tombs containing some {{transliteration|ja|gorintō}}. On the Shakadōgayatsu side of the pass, just before the first houses a small street on the left takes to a large group of {{transliteration|ja|yagura}} called {{transliteration|ja|Shakadōgayatsu Yagura-gun}}.<ref name="Kamiya71" /> There rest the bones of some of the hundreds of Hōjō family members who committed suicide at [[Tōshō-ji]] after the fall of Kamakura in 1333.<ref name="Kamiya71" />

The pass appears many times in some recent Japanese films like [[The Blue Light (2003 film)|"The Blue Light"]], {{transliteration|ja|[[Tada, Kimi o Aishiteru]]}}, and {{Nihongo|{{gloss|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.

=== {{transliteration|ja|Yagura}} tombs ===
{{Main article|Yagura (tombs)}}
[[File:Hojo Masako no haka01.jpg|thumb|[[Hōjō Masako]]'s {{transliteration|ja|yagura}} at [[Jufuku-ji]]. Her ashes are not actually there, as they were lost centuries ago.]]
An important and characteristic feature of Kamakura is a type of grave called {{Nihongo||やぐら|yagura}}.<ref name="KOT35">Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008: 35 – 36)</ref> {{transliteration|ja|Yagura}} are caves dug on the side of hills during the Middle Ages to serve as tombs for high-ranking personalities and priests.<ref name="KOT35" /> Two famous examples are Hōjō Masako's and Minamoto no Sanetomo's [[cenotaph]]s in [[Jufuku-ji]]'s cemetery, about {{convert|1|km|1}} from [[Kamakura Station]].

Usually present in the cemetery of most [[Buddhist 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.<ref name="KOT35" /> {{transliteration|ja|Yagura}} can be found either isolated or in groups of even 180 graves, as in the {{Nihongo|Hyakuhachi Yagura|百八やぐら}}.<ref name="KOT35" /> Many are now abandoned and in a bad state of preservation.<ref name="KOT35" />

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 the [[Kamakura period]] (1185–1333), the tradition seems to have declined during the following [[Muromachi period]], when storehouses and cemeteries came to be preferred.

True {{transliteration|ja|yagura}} can be found also in the [[Miura Peninsula]], in the [[Izu Peninsula]], and even in distant [[Awa Province (Chiba)]].<ref name="KOT35" />

Tombs in caves can also be found in the [[Tōhoku]] region, near [[Hiroshima]] and [[Kyoto]], and in [[Ishikawa Prefecture]], however they are not called {{transliteration|ja|yagura}} and their relationship with those in Kanagawa Prefecture is unknown.