Kamakura
Kamakura (鎌倉, Kamakura, [kamakɯɾa] ⓘ) officially Kamakura City (鎌倉市, Kamakura-shi) 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 (1 September 2020) 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.
For other uses, see Kamakura (disambiguation).
Kamakura
鎌倉市
1063
November 3, 1939
Takashi Matsuo
39.67 km2 (15.32 sq mi)
172,929
4,400/km2 (11,000/sq mi)
Yamazakura (Prunus jamasakura)
0467-23-3000
18-10 Onarimachi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken 248-8686
鎌倉
かまくら
Kamakura
Kamakura
Kamakura
Kamakura is one of Japan's ancient capitals, alongside Kyoto and Nara, and it served as the seat of the Kamakura shogunate from 1185 to 1333, established by Minamoto no Yoritomo. It was the first military government in Japan's history. After the downfall of the shogunate, Kamakura saw a temporary decline. However, during the Edo period, it regained popularity as a tourist destination among the townspeople of Edo. Despite suffering significant losses of historical and cultural assets due to the Great Kantō Earthquake in 1923, Kamakura continues to be one of the major tourist attractions in the Kanto region, known for its historical landmarks such as Tsurugaoka Hachimangū and the Great Buddha of Kamakura.
History[edit]
Early history[edit]
The earliest traces of human settlements in the area date back at least 10,000 years. Obsidian and stone tools found at excavation sites near Jōraku-ji were dated to the Old Stone Age (between 100,000 and 10,000 years ago). During the Jōmon period, the sea level was higher than now and all the flat land in Kamakura up to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and, further east, up to Yokohama's Totsuka-ku and Sakae-ku was under water. Thus, the oldest pottery fragments found come from hillside settlements of the period between 7500 BC and 5000 BC. In the late Jōmon period the sea receded and civilization progressed. During the Yayoi period (300 BC–300 AD), the sea receded further almost to today's coastline, and the economy shifted radically from hunting and fishing to farming.[8]
The Azuma Kagami describes pre-shogunate Kamakura as a remote, forlorn place, but there is reason to believe its writers simply wanted to give the impression that prosperity had been brought there by the new regime.[9] To the contrary, it is known that by the Nara period (about 700 AD) there were both temples and shrines. Sugimoto-dera for example was built during this period and is therefore one of the city's oldest temples.[8] The town was also the seat of area government offices and the point of convergence of several land and marine routes. It seems therefore only natural that it should have been a city of a certain importance, likely to attract Yoritomo's attention.[9]
Etymology[edit]
The name Kamakura appears in the Kojiki of 712,[10][11] and is also mentioned in the c. 8th century Man'yōshū[12][13] as well as in the Wamyō Ruijushō[14] of 938. However, the city clearly appears in the historical record only with Minamoto no Yoritomo's founding of the Kamakura shogunate in 1192.
There are various hypotheses about the origin of the name. According to the most likely theory, Kamakura, surrounded as it is on three sides by mountains, was likened both to a cooking hearth (竃, kamado, kama) and to a warehouse (倉, kura), because both only have one side open.[10]
Another and more picturesque explanation is a legend, relating how Fujiwara no Kamatari stopped at Yuigahama on his way to today's Ibaraki Prefecture, where he wanted to pray at the Kashima Shrine for the fall of Soga no Iruka. He dreamed of an old man who promised his support, and upon waking, he found next to his bed a type of spear called a kamayari. Kamatari enshrined it in a place called Ōkura. Kamayari plus Ōkura then turned into the name Kamakura.[10] However, this and similar legends appear to have arisen only after Kamatari's descendant Fujiwara no Yoritsune became the fourth shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate in 1226, some time after the name Kamakura appears in the historical record.[15] It used to be also called Renpu (鎌府) (short for Kamakura Shogunate (鎌倉幕府, Kamakura Bakufu)).
Kamakura is known among Buddhists for having been the cradle of Nichiren Buddhism during the 13th century. Founder Nichiren was not a native; he was born in Awa Province, in today's Chiba Prefecture. But it was only natural for a preacher to come here because the city was the political centre of the country at the time.[38] Nichiren settled down in a straw hut in the Matsubagayatsu (literally transl. pine needle valley)[39] district, where three temples (Ankokuron-ji, Myōhō–ji, and Chōshō-ji), have been fighting for centuries for the honour of being the true heir of the master.[38] During his turbulent life Nichiren came and went, but Kamakura always remained at the heart of his religious activities. It is here that, when he was about to be executed by the Hōjō Regent for being a troublemaker, he was allegedly saved by a miracle; it is also in Kamakura that he wrote his famous Risshō Ankoku Ron (立正安国論), or 'Treatise on Peace and Righteousness', and that legend says he was rescued and fed by monkeys. Kamakura is also where he preached.[38]
Some Kamakura locations important to Nichiren Buddhism are:
Ankokuron-ji claims to have on its grounds the cave where the master, with the help of a white monkey, hid from his persecutors.[38] (However Hosshō-ji in Zushi's Hisagi district makes the same claim, and with a better historical basis.)[40][41] Within Ankokuron-ji lie also the spot where Nichiren used to meditate while admiring Mount Fuji, the place where his disciple Nichiro was cremated, and the cave where he is supposed to have written his Risshō Ankoku Ron.[38]
Nearby Myōhō–ji (also called Koke-dera or 'Temple of Moss'), a much smaller temple, was erected in an area where Nichiren had his home for 19 years.[38] The third Nichiren temple in Nagoe, Chōshō-ji, also claims to lie on the very spot where it all started.
Transportation[edit]
Rail[edit]
JR East's Yokosuka Line has three stations within the city. Ōfuna Station is the northernmost. Next is Kita-Kamakura Station. In the center of the city is Kamakura Station, the central railway station in the city.
Kamakura Station is the terminal for the Enoshima Electric Railway. This railway runs westward to Fujisawa, and part of its route runs parallel to the seashore. After leaving Kamakura Station, trains make eight more station stops in the city. One of them is Hase Station, closest to Hase-dera and Kōtoku-in. The next station on the line is Gokurakuji Station, one of the settings for the 2014 film Our Little Sister.
Education[edit]
Kamakura has many educational facilities. The city operates sixteen public elementary schools and nine middle schools. The national government has one elementary and one middle school, and there are two private elementary and six private middle schools. At the next level are four prefectural and six private high schools. Also in Kamakura is a prefectural special school.
Kamakura Women's University is the city's sole university.
Kamakura has six sister cities. Three are in Japan and three are overseas:[50]
loge[edit]
Kamakura has many historical houses. Tukikagetei is one of the famous houses. It had constructed 100 years ago in the Taisho era. But now, Fukagawa Geisha uses this house for their lives.
