is a neighborhood of

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

Kanagawa Prefecture 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. Kana ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Because of the presence of

East Japan Railway Company The 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 in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

's (JR)

Kita-Kamakura Station is a railway station on the Yokosuka Line in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Kita-Kamakura Station is located on the Yokosuka Line and is also served by Shōnan-Shinjuku Line through services. ...

, it is better known as Kita-Kamakura. It lies within the Ofuna administrative subdivision of the city of Kamakura.

History

Yamanouchi used to be the northern border of the city during the shogunate.Ōnuki (2008:50) The border post was about a hundred meters from today's

Ōfuna Station Ōfuna Station( ja, 大船駅, ) is a railway station in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Ōfuna Station is served by the Tokaido Main Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Negishi Line ( Keihin-T ...

. The name of the area during the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Y ...

used to be . During the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

Yamanouchi also gave its name to the Yamanouchi branch of the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branch ...

. The land where the station itself stands used to be part of

Engaku-ji , 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. Founded ...

, but it was expropriated during the Meiji period to let the

Yokosuka Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The Yokosuka Line connects Tokyo Station with in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the 23.9 km segment between and ...

pass through. 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 . According to the legend, it was buried there in Heian times by

Abe no Seimei was an ''onmyōji'', a leading specialist of ''Onmyōdō'' during the middle of the Heian period in Japan.Miller, Laura. "Extreme Makeover for a Heian-era Wizard". ''Mechademia 3: Limits of the Human''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Pres ...

as an offering. It was dug up accidentally by US military bulldozers after World War II and now it is kept in nearby Yakumo Jinja. Although very small, Yamanouchi is famous for its traditional atmosphere and the presence, among others, of three of the five highest-ranking

Rinzai The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan E ...

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

temples in Kamakura, the Kamakura Five Zen Temples, or ''

Kamakura Gozan The 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 "monas ...

''. These three great temples were built here because Yamanouchi was the home territory of the

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai 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 political power in Japan during this period ...

, the family which ruled Japan for 150 years.

Notable temples

Kenchō-ji 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 (the ''Kamakura Gozan'') and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan.English pamphlet ...

. This huge temple is, together with Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, the symbol of the city of Kamakura.Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008:170-188) 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 The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the fundame ...

and there's a nice Zen garden as well. *

. 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 was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...

is buried here. Detailed instructions to find his grave can be found here. *

Meigetsu-in 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). History ...

, nicknamed "Temple of Hydrangeas" (''ajisai-dera'') with its round door outlining a landscape which changes with the seasons. *

Chōju-ji is the name of numerous Buddhist temples in Japan. Below is an incomplete list: *Chōju-ji (Kamakura) (official name: Hōkizan Chōju-ji), Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture *Chōju-ji (Konan) is the name of numerous Buddhist temples in Japan. Bel ...

, formerly one of the

Ashikaga clan The was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1333 to 1573. The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga in ...

's family temples, in 2008 for the first time opened its doors to visitors. Dedicated to ''

shōgun , 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 Kamakur ...

Ashikaga Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromac ...

, the temple's cemetery contains one of his two graves (the other is at Tō-in in Kyoto). *

Tōkei-ji , also known as or , is a Buddhist temple and a former nunnery, the only survivor of a network of five nunneries called , in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the Rinzai school of Zen's Engaku-ji branch, and was op ...

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 is a Japanese historic term referring to visually-impaired Japanese women, most of whom worked as musicians. Etymology The ideographs for mean "blind" and "woman." The kanji are so because the individual ideograph for already existed. is m ...

'' system of nunneries, of which this temple is the only survivor.Harada (2007:41) Has a large graveyard. Also called ''Kakekomidera'' (the fugitive temple), and famous for its

hydrangea ''Hydrangea'', () commonly named the hortensia, is a genus of over 75 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Korea, and Japan. Most are shrubs tall, ...

s. *

Jōchi-ji is a Buddhist Zen temple in Kita-Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It belongs to the Engaku-ji school of the Rinzai sect and is ranked fourth among Kamakura's Five Mountains. The main objects of worship are the three statues of Shaka, ...

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.

Notable residents

The artist

Isamu Noguchi was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several ...

lived and worked here in 1952. Film director

lived near Jōchi-ji from 1952 until his death.

Notes

References

* * *
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)

{{commons category, Kita-Kamakura Kamakura, Kanagawa