is a street in Kamakura,

Kanagawa is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagaw ...

, Japan, that begins at (locality named after a bridge which no longer existsA guide to Kamakura
Yukinoshita
retrieved on January 13, 2009) from the Kanazawa Kaidō, crosses Yoko Ōji, passes in front of Hōkai-ji and Honkaku-ji, crosses the Ebisudōbashi Bridge (see photo), Ōmachi Ōji and Kuruma Ōji, reaches

Moto Hachiman is a small but very old and historically important Shinto shrine in Kamakura, Kanagawa Pref., Japan. History Although officially called , this tiny shrine in Zaimokuza is universally known as ''Moto Hachiman'' ("original Hachiman", a nickname ...

and

Kōmyō-ji Kōmyō-ji ( ja, 光明寺, link=no，) is the name of numerous Buddhist temples in Japan and other East Asian communities, and may refer to: *Kōmyō-ji (Ayabe), a temple in Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture; see List of National Treasures of Japan (temples ...

, and finally ends in

Zaimokuza 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, Kanagawa, Namerigawa. The relation between the beach's name and that of its neighboring areas i ...

near

Wakaejima is an artificial island, the oldest in Japan, now in ruins. The name means "Waka Bay Island" from Waka, Zaimokuza's old name (see the text of the commemorative stele, below). Its remains are located at the east end of Zaimokuza Beach near Kamaku ...

. It is believed this is what the ''

Azuma Kagami is a Japanese historical chronicle. The medieval text chronicles events of the Kamakura Shogunate from Minamoto no Yoritomo's rebellion against the Taira clan in Izokuni of 1180 to Munetaka Shinnō (the 6th shōgun) and his return to Kyoto in 12 ...

'' calls "Komachi Ōji" and other texts "Komachi Kōji".Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008:57)Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei, "Wakamiya Ōji" It used to be also called . The name seems to stem from the fact that the Ebisudōbashi Bridge has been for centuries the border between the two areas called Komachi and Ōmachi, Komachi being the more important of the two. The ''Azuma Kagami'' says that along Komachi Ōji there were the houses of the powerful (the ''

gokenin A was initially a vassal of the shogunate of the Kamakura and the Muromachi periods.Iwanami Kōjien, "Gokenin" In exchange for protection and the right to become '' jitō'' (manor's lord), a ''gokenin'' had in times of peace the duty to protect ...

'') and, for almost the entire

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

, the seat of the government. The entrance of all buildings in Komachi not belonging to the Hōjō (the ruling clan) or to the ''

Bakufu , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura ...

'' (with the curious exception of houses of ill repute) had to face away from

Wakamiya Ōji is a 1.8 km street in Kamakura, a city in Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan, unusual because it is at the same time the city's main avenue and the approach () of its largest Shinto shrine, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū. Over the centuries Wakamiya Ō ...

(Honkaku-ji is a good example).Kamiya Vol. 1 (2008:15-16)

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Komachi Oji Kamakura, Kanagawa Roads in Japan Transport in Kanagawa Prefecture