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{{Other uses|Kamakura (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Kamakura
| native_name        = {{nobold|{{lang|ja|鎌倉市}}}}
| native_name_lang   = ja
| settlement_type    = [[Cities of Japan|City]]
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
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| image1      = TsurugaokaHachiman-M8867.jpg
| caption1    = [[Tsurugaoka Hachimangū]]
| image2      = 230128 Kamakura Daibutsu Japan01s3.jpg
| caption2    = [[Great Buddha of Kamakura]]
| image3      = Kenchoji Main Complex.jpg
| caption3    = [[Kenchō-ji]]
| image4      = Kamakuragu Main Hall.jpg
| caption4    = [[Kamakura-gū]]
| image5      = 由比ヶ浜からの風景20190626-P1030385.jpg
| caption5    = [[Yuigahama]]
}}
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| image_map1         = Location of Kamakura city Kanagawa prefecture Japan.svg
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| map_caption1       = Kamakura in [[Kanagawa Prefecture]]
| pushpin_map        = Japan#Japan Kanto#Japan Kanagawa Prefecture
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| coordinates        = {{Coord|35|19|11|N|139|33|09|E|region:JP-14_city(173,000)|display=inline,title}}
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| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = {{flagcountry|Japan}}
| subdivision_type1  = [[List of regions of Japan|Region]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Kantō region|Kantō]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[Prefectures of Japan|Prefecture]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Kanagawa Prefecture]]
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| established_title  = First official recorded
| established_date   = 1063{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}
| established_title2 = City Settled
| established_date2  = November 3, 1939
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| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = Matsuo Takashi
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| area_total_km2     = 39.67
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| population_total   = 172929
| population_as_of   = September 1, 2020
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| timezone1          = [[Japan Standard Time]]
| utc_offset1        = +9
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| blank_name_sec1    = City Symbols
| blank1_name_sec1   = – Tree
| blank1_info_sec1   = Yamazakura {{small|([[Prunus serrulata#Cultivars and varieties|Prunus jamasakura]])}}
| blank2_name_sec1   = – Flower
| blank2_info_sec1   = [[Gentian]]
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| blank_name_sec2    = Phone&nbsp;number
| blank_info_sec2    = 0467-23-3000
| blank1_name_sec2   = Address
| blank1_info_sec2   = 18-10 Onarimachi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken 248-8686
| website            = {{official website|www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp}}
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}}
{{Nihongo|'''Kamakura'''|鎌倉|Kamakura|{{IPA|ja|kamakɯɾa||TomJ-Kamakura.ogg}}}}, officially {{Nihongo|'''Kamakura City'''|鎌倉市|Kamakura-shi}}, is a [[Cities of Japan|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 km<sup>2</sup> over the total area of {{cvt|39.67|km2|2}}. Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939.

Kamakura was Japan's ''[[de facto]]'' capital when it was 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 (Tokyo)|Edo]]. Despite suffering significant losses of historical and cultural assets due to the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|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 [[Kōtoku-in|Great Buddha of Kamakura]].

== Toponomy ==
The name ''Kamakura'' appears in the {{transliteration|ja|[[Kojiki]]}} of 712,<ref name="KHHS1">[http://www.kcn-net.org/e_kama_history/history/origin.htm Kamakura: History & Historic Sites – Origin of the Name Kamakura], the Kamakura Citizen Net, retrieved on April 27, 2008</ref><ref>Kurano (1958: 224–225)</ref> and is also mentioned in the {{c.|8th century}} {{transliteration|ja|[[Man'yōshū]]}}<ref>Satake (2002: 315, 337)</ref><ref>Satake (2003: 393)</ref> as well as in the {{transliteration|ja|[[Wamyō Ruijushō]]}}<ref>Minamoto (1966, 203–204)</ref> 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 {{Nihongo|cooking hearth|竃|kamado, kama}} and to a {{Nihongo|warehouse|倉|kura}}, because both only have one side open.<ref name="KHHS1" />

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 {{transliteration|ja|[[kamayari]]}}. Kamatari enshrined it in a place called [[Ōkura Bakufu|Ōkura]]. ''Kamayari'' plus ''Ōkura'' then turned into the name ''Kamakura''.<ref name="KHHS1" /> However, this and similar legends appear to have arisen only after Kamatari's descendant [[Kujō Yoritsune|Fujiwara no Yoritsune]] became the fourth {{transliteration|ja|[[shōgun]]}} of the [[Kamakura shogunate]] in 1226, some time after the name ''Kamakura'' appears in the historical record.<ref>「『鎌倉』と鎌足」 (''"Kamakura" and Kamatari''), 黒田智 (Kuroda, Satoshi). In Japanese. Paper in ''Kamakura Ibun Kenkyū'', Vol. 3; Tōkyō-dō Shuppan, 2002; {{ISBN|978-4-490-20469-8}}
</ref> It used to be also called {{Nihongo|Renpu|鎌府}} (short for {{Nihongo|Kamakura Shogunate|鎌倉幕府|Kamakura [[Bakufu]]}}).

== History ==
=== Early history ===
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 {{ill|Jōraku-ji|ja|常楽寺 (鎌倉市)}} 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.<ref name="KHHS">[http://www.kcn-net.org/e_kama_history/history/history1.htm Kamakura: History and the Historic Sites – Through the Heian Period], the Kamakura Citizen Net, retrieved on April 27, 2008</ref>

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.<ref name="takahashi8">Takahashi (2005:8–10)</ref> 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.<ref name="KHHS" /> 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.<ref name="takahashi8" />

=== Kamakura period ===
{{main article|Kamakura period}}

[[File:Minamoto no Yoritomo.jpg|thumb|Portrait traditionally believed to be of [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]], but now believed to be of [[Ashikaga Tadayoshi]]<ref>[https://shogun-yashiki.blogspot.com/2008/11/weapons-fighting-techniques-of-samurai.html Weapons & Fighting Techniques Of The Samurai Warrior 1200–1877 AD]. Retrieved June 24, 2009.</ref>]]
The extraordinary events, the historical characters and the culture of the twenty years which go from Minamoto no Yoritomo's birth to the assassination of the last of his sons have been throughout Japanese history the background and the inspiration for countless poems, books, {{transliteration|ja|[[jidaigeki]]}} TV dramas, [[Kabuki]] plays, songs, [[manga]] and even videogames; and are necessary to make sense of much of what one sees in today's Kamakura.

Yoritomo, after the defeat and almost complete extermination of his family at the hands of the [[Taira clan]], managed in the space of a few years to go from being a fugitive hiding from his enemies inside a tree trunk to being the most powerful man in the land. Defeating the Taira clan, Yoritomo became ''de facto'' ruler of much of Japan and founder of the Kamakura shogunate, an institution destined to last 141 years and to have immense repercussions over the country's history.

The Kamakura shogunate era is called by historians the [[Kamakura period]] and, although its end is clearly set ([[Siege of Kamakura (1333)]]), its beginning is not. Different historians put Kamakura's beginning at a different point in time within a range that goes from the establishment of Yoritomo's first military government in Kamakura (1180) to his elevation to the rank of {{Nihongo||征夷大将軍|Sei-i Taishōgun}} in 1192.<ref name="takahashi2">Takahashi (2005:2)</ref> It used to be thought that during this period, effective power had moved completely from the Emperor in Kyoto to Yoritomo in Kamakura, but the progress of research has revealed this was not the case.<ref name="takahashi2" /> Even after the consolidation of the shogunate's power in the east, the Emperor continued to rule the country, particularly its west.<ref name="takahashi2" /> However, it is undeniable that Kamakura had a certain autonomy and that it had surpassed the technical capital of Japan politically, culturally and economically.<ref name="takahashi2" /> The shogunate even reserved for itself an area in Kyoto called {{Nihongo|Rokuhara|六波羅}} where lived its representatives, who were there to protect its interests.<ref name="takahashi2" />
[[File:Okura Bakufu Kamakura.jpg|thumb|left|The [[stele]] on the spot where [[Minamoto no Yoritomo|Yoritomo's]] {{transliteration|ja|[[Ōkura Bakufu]]}} used to stand]]
In 1179, Yoritomo married [[Hōjō Masako]], an event of far-reaching consequences for Japan. In 1180, he entered Kamakura, building his residence in a valley called Ōkura (in today's [[Nishi Mikado]]). The [[stele]] on the spot reads:

{{poemquote|737 years ago, in 1180, Minamoto no Yoritomo built his mansion here. Consolidated his power, he later ruled from home, and his government was therefore called {{Nihongo|[[Ōkura Bakufu]]|大蔵幕府}}. He was succeeded by his sons Yoriie and Sanetomo, and this place remained the seat of the government for 46 years until 1225, when his wife Hōjō Masako died. It was then transferred to {{Nihongo|Utsunomiya Tsuji|宇津宮辻}}.
Erected in March 1917 by the Kamakurachō Seinenkai}}

In 1185, his forces, commanded by his younger brother [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune]], vanquished the Taira and in 1192 he received from Emperor [[Go-Toba]] the title of {{transliteration|ja|Sei-i Taishōgun}}.<ref name="KHKP" /> Yoshitsune's power would however cause Yoritomo's envy; the relationship between the brothers soured, and in 1189 Yoritomo was given Yoshitsune's head pickled in liquor. For the same reason, in 1193 he had his other brother [[Minamoto no Noriyori|Noriyori]] killed. Power was now firmly in his hands, but the Minamoto dynasty and its power however were to end as quickly and unexpectedly as they had started.

In 1199, Yoritomo died falling from his horse at the age of 51, and was buried in a temple that had until then housed his tutelary goddess.<ref>See article [[Tomb of Minamoto no Yoritomo]]</ref> He was succeeded by his 17-year-old son [[Minamoto no Yoriie]] under the regency of his maternal grandfather [[Hōjō Tokimasa]]. A long and bitter fight ensued in which entire clans like the [[Hatakeyama clan|Hatakeyama]], the [[Hiki Yoshikazu|Hiki]], and the [[Wada Yoshimori|Wada]] were wiped out by the Hōjō who wished to get rid of Yoritomo's supporters and consolidate their power. Yoriie did become head of the [[Minamoto]] clan and was regularly appointed {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}} in 1202 but by that time, real power had already fallen into the hands of the Hōjō clan.<ref name="KHKP" /> Yoriie plotted to take back his power, but failed and was assassinated on July 17, 1204.<ref name="KHKP" /> His six-year-old first son [[Minamoto no Ichiman|Ichiman]] had already been killed during political turmoil in Kamakura, while his second son Yoshinari at age six was forced to become a Buddhist priest under the name [[Kugyō (Minamoto no Yoshinari)|Kugyō]]. From then on all power would belong to the Hōjō, and the {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}} would be just a figurehead. Since the Hōjō were part of the Taira clan, it can be said that the Taira had lost a battle, but in the end had won the war.

[[File:Mitsuuroko.svg|thumb|The [[Hōjō clan|Hōjō family]] [[Mon (crest)|crest]], ubiquitous in Kamakura]]
Yoritomo's second son and third {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}} [[Minamoto no Sanetomo]] spent most of his life staying out of politics and writing poetry, but was nonetheless assassinated in February 1219 by his nephew Kugyō under the giant [[Ginkgo biloba|ginkgo]] tree whose trunk still stood at [[Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū]] until it was uprooted by a storm in the early hours of March 10, 2010.<ref name="KHKP" /> Kugyō himself, the last of his line, was beheaded as a punishment for his crime by the Hōjō just hours later. Barely 30 years into the shogunate, the [[Seiwa Genji]] dynasty who had created it in Kamakura had ended.<ref name="KHKP">[http://www.kcn-net.org/e_kama_history/history/history2.htm Kamakura: History & Historic Sites – The Kamakura Period], the Kamakura Citizen Net, retrieved on April 27, 2008</ref>

In 1293, a [[1293 Kamakura earthquake|severe earthquake]] killed 23,000 people and seriously damaged the city. In the confusion following the quake, Hōjō Sadatoki, the Shikken of the Kamakura shogunate, carried out a purge against his subordinate Taira no Yoritsuna. In what is referred to as the Heizen Gate Incident, Yoritsuna and 90 of his followers were killed.

The Hōjō regency however continued until [[Nitta Yoshisada]] destroyed it in 1333 at the [[Siege of Kamakura (1333)|Siege of Kamakura]]. It was under the regency that Kamakura acquired many of its best and most prestigious temples and shrines, for example Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, Kenchō-ji, Engaku-ji, Jufuku-ji, Jōchi-ji, and Zeniarai Benten Shrine. The Hōjō family crest in the city is therefore still ubiquitous.

From the middle of the thirteenth century, the fact that the vassals (the {{transliteration|ja|[[gokenin]]}}) were allowed to become ''de facto'' owners of the land they administered, coupled to the custom that all {{transliteration|ja|gokenin}} children could inherit, led to the parcelization of the land and to a consequent weakening of the shogunate. This, and not lack of legitimacy, was the primary cause of the Hōjō's fall.

According to The Institute for Research on World-Systems,<ref name="irws">[http://irows.ucr.edu/research/citemp/citemtoc.htm Cities, Empires and Global State Formation. Institute for Research on World-Systems]</ref> Kamakura was the 4th largest city in the world in 1250 AD, with 200,000 people, and Japan's largest, eclipsing [[Kyoto]] by 1200 AD. Yet, despite Kamakura's annihilation of Kyoto-based political and military power at the [[Battle of Dan-no-ura]] in 1185, and the failure of the Emperor to free himself from Kamakura's control during the [[Jōkyū War]], Takahashi (2005) has questioned whether Kamakura's nationwide political hegemony actually existed.<ref name="takahashi2" /> Takahashi claims that if Kamakura ruled the [[Kantō]], not only was the Emperor in fact still the ruler of [[Kansai region|Kansai]], but during this period the city was in many ways politically and administratively still under the ancient capital of [[Kyoto]].<ref name="takahashi2" /> Kamakura was simply a rival center of political, economic and cultural power in a country that had Kyoto as its capital.<ref name="takahashi2" />

==== Nichiren in Kamakura ====
[[File:Ruokoji Katase Nichiren Execution Ground.jpg|thumb|The monument on the spot at [[Ryūkō-ji (Fujisawa)|Ryūkō-ji]] where [[Nichiren]] was saved from execution]]
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 (Chiba)|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.<ref name="Iso258">Mutsu (1995/06: 258–271)</ref> Nichiren settled down in a straw hut in the Matsubagayatsu (literally {{translation|pine needle valley}})<ref name="yatsu">The ending "ヶ谷", common in place names and usually read "-gaya", in Kamakura is normally pronounced "-gayatsu", as in Shakadōgayatsu, Ōgigayatsu, and Matsubagayatsu.</ref> 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.<ref name="Iso258" /> 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 {{Nihongo||立正安国論|Risshō Ankoku Ron}}, or {{gloss|Treatise on Peace and Righteousness}}, and that legend says he was rescued and fed by monkeys. Kamakura is also where he preached.<ref name="Iso258" />

Some Kamakura locations important to Nichiren Buddhism are:

* The three temples in Matsubagayatsu
Ankokuron-ji claims to have on its grounds the cave where the master, with the help of a white monkey, hid from his persecutors.<ref name="Iso258" /> (However Hosshō-ji in [[Zushi]]'s Hisagi district makes the same claim, and with a better historical basis.)<ref>[http://www.nichiren-shu.org/newsletter/nichirenshu_news/Nichiren147e.pdf Shakyamuni Buddha and His Supporters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528121234/http://www.nichiren-shu.org/newsletter/nichirenshu_news/Nichiren147e.pdf |date=2008-05-28 }}, Nichirenshu.org, retrieved on May 25, 2008</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.j-area2.com/area/shonan/hosshoji.html |title=Photo of Hosshō-ji's gate with its sculpted white monkeys |access-date=2008-05-26 |archive-date=2008-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720044714/http://www.j-area2.com/area/shonan/hosshoji.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 {{transliteration|ja|Risshō Ankoku Ron}}.<ref name="Iso258" />{{pb}} Nearby [[Myōhō–ji]] (also called Koke-dera or {{gloss|Temple of Moss}}), a much smaller temple, was erected in an area where Nichiren had his home for 19 years.<ref name="Iso258" /> The third Nichiren temple in Nagoe, [[Chōshō-ji]], also claims to lie on the very spot where it all started.
* The {{Nihongo|Nichiren Tsujiseppō Ato|日蓮聖人辻説法跡}} on Komachi Ōji in the [[Komachi (Kanagawa)|Komachi]] district contains the very stone from which he used to harangue the crowds, claiming that the various calamities that were afflicting the city at the moment were due to the moral failings of its citizens.<ref name="Iso258" />
* The former execution ground at Katase's [[Ryūkō-ji (Fujisawa)|Ryūkō-ji]] where Nichiren was about to be beheaded (an event known to Nichiren's followers as the {{Nihongo|Tatsunokuchi Persecution|龍ノ口法難}}), and where he was miraculously saved when thunder struck the executioner.<ref name="Iso258" /> Nichiren had been condemned to death for having written the {{transliteration|ja|Risshō Ankoku Ron}}.<ref name="KOT46">Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008: 46)</ref> Every year, on September 12, Nichiren devotees gather to celebrate the anniversary of the miracle.<ref>Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008: 186)</ref>
* The {{Nihongo|[[Shichirigahama#Nichiren's pine tree|Kesagake no Matsu]]|袈裟掛けの松}}, the pine tree on the roads between Harisuribashi and Inamuragasaki from which Nichiren hanged his {{transliteration|ja|[[kesa (clothing)|kesa]]}} (a Buddhist [[Stole (vestment)|stole]]) while on his way to Ryūkō-ji.<ref name="KOT46" /> The original pine tree however died long ago and, after having been replaced many times, now no longer exists.<ref name="KOT46" />

====Fall of the Kamakura shogunate====
{{main article|Siege of Kamakura (1333)}}

[[File:Tosho-ji-Hojo Family temple site.jpg|thumb|This field is the former site of [[Tōshō-ji]], the [[Hōjō clan|Hōjō family]] temple. In 1333, the Hōjō clan committed mass suicide here.]]
On July 3, 1333,<ref>Gregorian date obtained directly from the original Nengō ([[Genkō (second)|Genkō]] 3, 21st day of the 5th month) using [https://uni-tuebingen.de/geschichte-japans/nengo_calc.htm Nengocalc] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014735/http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/geschichte-japans/nengo_calc.htm |date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref> warlord [[Nitta Yoshisada]], who was an Emperor loyalist, attacked Kamakura to reestablish imperial rule. After trying to enter by land through the Kewaizaka Pass and the Gokuraku-ji Pass, he and his forces waited for a low tide, bypassed the [[Inamuragasaki]] cape, entered the city and took it.<ref name="Iso">Mutsu (1995/06: 19–40)</ref>

In accounts of that disastrous Hōjō defeat it is recorded that nearly 900 Hōjō samurai, including the last three Regents, committed suicide at their family temple, [[Tōshō-ji]], whose ruins have been found in today's [[Ōmachi (Kanagawa)|Ōmachi]]. Almost the entire clan vanished at once, the city was sacked and many temples were burned.{{efn|See for example the article [[An'yō-in (Kamakura)|An'yō-in]]}} Many simple citizens imitated the Hōjō, and an estimated total of over 6,000 died on that day of their own hand.<ref name="Iso" /> In 1953, 556 skeletons of that period were found during excavations near Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū's Ichi no Torii in Yuigahama, all of people who had died of a violent death, probably at the hand of Nitta's forces.

===Muromachi and Edo periods===
[[File:Kamakura-fu.png|The Kamakura-fu at the time of its maximum expansion|left|thumb]]
The fall of Kamakura marks the beginning of an era in Japanese history characterized by chaos and violence called the [[Muromachi period]]. Kamakura's decline was slow, and in fact the next phase of its history, in which, as the capital of the [[Kantō region]], it dominated the east of the country, lasted almost as long as the shogunate had.<ref name="matsuov" /> Kamakura would come out of it almost completely destroyed.<ref name="papinot">Papinot (1906:247–248)</ref>

The situation in Kantō after 1333 continued to be tense, with Hōjō supporters staging sporadic revolts here and there.<ref name="sansom22" /> In 1335, [[Hōjō Tokiyuki]], son of last [[shikken|regent]] [[Hōjō Takatoki|Takatoki]], tried to re-establish the shogunate by force and defeated Kamakura's ''de facto'' ruler [[Ashikaga Tadayoshi]] in Musashi, in today's [[Kanagawa Prefecture]].<ref name="ksk24">Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008:24–25)</ref> He was in his turn defeated in [[Koshigoe]] by [[Ashikaga Takauji]], who had come in force from Kyoto to help his brother.<ref name="papinot" /><ref name="ksk24" />

Takauji, founder of the [[Ashikaga shogunate]] which, at least nominally, ruled Japan during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, at first established his residence at the same site in Kamakura where Yoritomo's {{transliteration|ja|[[Ōkura Bakufu]]}} had been, but in 1336 he left Kamakura in charge of his son [[Ashikaga Yoshiakira|Yoshiakira]] and went west in pursuit of Nitta Yoshisada.<ref name="sansom22">Sansom (1977:22)</ref> The Ashikaga then decided to permanently stay in Kyoto, making Kamakura instead the capital of the {{Nihongo||鎌倉府|[[Kamakura-fu]]}} (or {{Nihongo||関東府|Kantō-fu}}), a region including the provinces of [[Sagami Province|Sagami]], [[Musashi Province|Musashi]], [[Awa Province (Chiba)|Awa]], [[Kazusa Province|Kazusa]], [[Shimōsa Province|Shimōsa]], [[Hitachi Province|Hitachi]], [[Kōzuke Province|Kozuke]], [[Shimotsuke Province|Shimotsuke]], [[Kai Province|Kai]], and [[Izu Province|Izu]], to which were later added [[Mutsu Province|Mutsu]] and [[Dewa province|Dewa]], making it the equivalent to today's Kanto, plus the [[Shizuoka Prefecture|Shizuoka]] and [[Yamanashi Prefecture]]s.<ref name="matsuov">Matsuo (1997:V-VI)</ref>

[[File:Kanto Kubos-Mansion-in-Kamakura.jpg|thumb|A 1685 illustration from the [[Shinpen Kamakurashi]] of the lot where the {{transliteration|ja|[[kantō kubō]]}}'s mansion once stood. It was left empty in the hope that he may one day return.]]

Kamakura's ruler was called {{transliteration|ja|[[kantō kubō]]}}, a title equivalent to {{transliteration|ja|[[shōgun]]}} assumed by Ashikaga Takauji's son [[Ashikaga Motouji|Motouji]] after his nomination to {{transliteration|ja|Kantō [[kanrei]]}}, or deputy {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}}, in 1349.<ref name="kd">[[Kokushi Daijiten]] (1983:542)</ref> Motouji transferred his original title to the [[Uesugi clan|Uesugi family]], which had previously held the hereditary title of {{Nihongo||執事|[[shitsuji]]}}, and would thereafter provide the {{transliteration|ja|Kantō kanrei}}.<ref name="kd" /> Motouji had been sent by his father because this last understood the importance of controlling the Kantō region and wanted to have an Ashikaga in power there, but the administration in Kamakura was from the beginning characterized by its rebelliousness, so the {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}}'s idea never really worked and actually backfired.<ref name="jansen">Jansen (1995:119–120)</ref> The {{transliteration|ja|kantō kubō}} era is essentially a struggle for the shogunate between the Kamakura and the Kyoto branches of the Ashikaga clan, because both believed they had a valid claim to power.<ref>Matsuo (1997:119–120)</ref> In the end, Kamakura had to be retaken by force in 1454.<ref name="kd" /> The five {{transliteration|ja|kubō}} recorded by history, all of Motouji's bloodline, were in order Motouji himself, [[Ashikaga Ujimitsu|Ujimitsu]], [[Ashikaga Mitsukane|Mitsukane]], [[Ashikaga Mochiuji|Mochiuji]] and [[Ashikaga Shigeuji|Shigeuji]].<ref name="kd" /> The last {{transliteration|ja|kubō}} had to escape to [[Koga, Ibaraki|Koga]], in today's Ibaraki prefecture, and he and his descendants thereafter became known as the {{transliteration|ja|koga kubō}}. According to the [[Shinpen Kamakurashi]], a guide book published in 1685, more than two centuries later the spot where the {{transliteration|ja|kubō}}'s mansion had been was still left empty by local peasants in the hope he may one day return.

A long period of chaos and war followed the departure of the last {{transliteration|ja|kantō kubō}} (the [[Sengoku period]]). Kamakura was heavily damaged in 1454 and almost completely burned during the [[Siege of Kamakura (1526)]].<ref name="papinot" /> Many of its citizens moved to Odawara when it came to prominence as the home town of the [[Later Hōjō clan]].<ref name="Iso" /> The final blow to the city was the decision taken in 1603 by the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}} to move the capital to nearby [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]], the place now called Tokyo.<ref name="Iso" /> The city never recovered and gradually returned to be the small fishing village it had been before Yoritomo's arrival.<ref name="Iso" /> Edmond Papinot's ''Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan'', published in 1910 during the late Meiji period, describes it as follows:

{{blockquote|{{strong|Kamakura}}. A small town (7250 inh.) in [[Sagami Province|Sagami]] which for several centuries was the second capital of Japan.{{nbsp}}[...] At present there remain of the splendor of the past only the famous Daibutsu and the Tsurugaoka Hachiman temple.<ref>Papinot (1972:247)</ref>}}

=== Meiji period and the 20th century ===
After the [[Meiji Restoration]], Kamakura's great cultural assets, its beach, and the mystique that surrounded its name made it as popular as it is now, and for essentially the same reasons.<ref name="Iso" /> The destruction of its heritage nonetheless did not stop: during the anti-Buddhist violence of 1868 ({{transliteration|ja|[[haibutsu kishaku]]}}) that followed the official policy of separation of Shinto and Buddhism ({{transliteration|ja|[[shinbutsu bunri]]}}) many of the city temples were damaged.<ref name="KOT28" /> In other cases, because mixing the two religions was now forbidden, shrines or temples had to give away some of their treasures, thus damaging their cultural heritage and decreasing the value of their properties.<ref name="KOT28" /> Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū's giant {{Nihongo|[[Niō]]|仁王}} (the two wooden warden gods usually found at the sides of a Buddhist temple's entrance), for example, being objects of Buddhist worship and therefore illegal where they were, were brought to Jufuku-ji, where they still are.<ref name="Iso" /><ref>See article [[Jufuku-ji]]</ref>

The [[Shinto shrine|shrine]] also had to destroy Buddhism-related buildings, for example its {{transliteration|ja|[[tahōtō]]}} tower, its {{Nihongo||御堂|midō}}, and its {{transliteration|ja|[[shichidō garan]]}}.
<ref name="KOT28">Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008: 28)</ref> Some Buddhist temples were simply closed, like [[Kantō Jissetsu|Zenkō-ji]], to which the now-independent [[Meigetsu-in]] used to belong.<ref>See article [[Meigetsu-in]]</ref>

In 1890, the railroad, which until then had arrived just to Ofuna, reached Kamakura bringing in tourists and new residents, and with them a new prosperity.<ref name="Iso" /> Part of the ancient Dankazura (see above) was removed to let the railway system's new Yokosuka Line pass.

The damage caused by time, centuries of neglect, politics, and modernization was further compounded by nature in 1923. The epicenter of the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|Great Kantō earthquake]] that year was deep beneath [[Izu Ōshima]] Island in Sagami Bay, a short distance from Kamakura. Tremors devastated Tokyo, the port city of [[Yokohama]], and the surrounding prefectures of [[Chiba Prefecture|Chiba]], [[Kanagawa Prefecture|Kanagawa]], and [[Shizuoka Prefecture|Shizuoka]], causing widespread damage throughout the Kantō region.<ref>Hammer (2006: 278)</ref> It was reported that the sea receded at an unprecedented velocity, and then waves rushed back towards the shore in a great wall of water over seven meters high, drowning some and crushing others beneath an avalanche of waterborne debris. The total death toll from earthquake, tsunami, and fire exceeded 2,000 victims.<ref>Hammer (2006: 115–116).</ref> Large sections of the shore simply slid into the sea; and the beach area near Kamakura was raised up about six-feet; or in other words, where there had only been a narrow strip of sand along the sea, a wide expanse of sand was fully exposed above the waterline.<ref>Hammer (2006:116)</ref>

Many temples founded centuries ago have required restoration, and it is for this reason that Kamakura has just one [[National Treasures of Japan|National Treasure]] in the building category (the Shariden at [[Engaku-ji]]). Much of Kamakura's heritage was for various reasons over the centuries first lost and later rebuilt.<ref name="KH4">[http://www.kcn-net.org/e_kama_history/history/history4.htm Kamakura: History and the Historic Sites – Kamakura in the Modern era (the Meiji period)] and following sections, The Kamakura Citizen net, retrieved on April 5, 2008]</ref>

== Geography ==
[[File:Kamakura-Map Final.png|thumb|right|A map of Kamakura with the approximate location of the most important historical sites. The darker color indicates flatland.]]
[[File:View over Kamakura bay.JPG|thumb|View over Kamakura's [[Sagami Bay]] coast from [[Hase-dera (Kamakura)]]]]
Surrounded to the north, east, and west by hills and to the south by the open water of [[Sagami Bay]], Kamakura is a natural fortress.<ref name="seven">[http://www.kcn-net.org/kiritosi/index.htm Hiking to Kamakura's Seven Entrances and Seven Passes], The Kamakura Citizen Net {{in lang|ja}}</ref> Before the construction of several tunnels and modern roads that now connect it to [[Fujisawa, Kanagawa|Fujisawa]], {{ill|Ofuna, Kanagawa|lt=Ofuna|ja|大船町}}, and [[Zushi]], on land it could be entered only through narrow artificial passes, among which the seven most important were called {{Nihongo|[[Kamakura's Seven Entrances]]|鎌倉七口}}, a name sometimes translated as {{gloss|Kamakura's Seven Mouths}}. The natural fortification made Kamakura an easily defensible stronghold.<ref name="seven" />

Before the opening of the Entrances, access on land was so difficult that the [[Azuma Kagami]] reports that Hōjō Masako came back to Kamakura from a visit to Sōtōzan temple in Izu bypassing by boat the impassable [[Inamuragasaki]] cape and arriving in Yuigahama.<ref name="seven" /> Again according to the Azuma Kagami, the first of the [[Kamakura shogunate|Kamakura {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}}]], [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]], chose it as a base partly because it was his ancestors' land (his {{transliteration|ja|yukari no chi}}), and partly because of these physical characteristics.<ref name="seven" />

To the north of the city stands {{Nihongo|Mt. Genji|源氏山|Genjiyama}} ({{cvt|92|m|ft}}), which then passes behind the [[Kōtoku-in|Daibutsu]] and reaches Inamuragasaki and the sea.<ref name="KOT64">Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008: 64)</ref>

From the north to the east, Kamakura is surrounded by {{Nihongo|Mt. Rokkokuken|六国見}} ({{cvt|147|m|ft}}), {{Nihongo|Mt. Ōhira|大平山}} ({{cvt|159|m|ft}}), {{Nihongo|Mt. Jubu|鷲峰山}} ({{cvt|127|m|ft}}), {{Nihongo|Mt. Tendai|天台山}} ({{cvt|141|m|ft}}), and {{Nihongo|Mt. Kinubari|衣張山}} ({{cvt|120|m|ft}}), which extend all the way to Iijimagasaki and [[Wakae Island]], on the border with [[Kotsubo]] and [[Zushi]].<ref name="KOT64" /> From Kamakura's alluvional plain branch off numerous narrow valleys like the Urigayatsu, Shakadōgayatsu, Ōgigayatsu, Kamegayatsu, Hikigayatsu, and Matsubagayatsu valleys.{{efn|The ending {{lang|ja|ヶ谷}} means {{gloss|valley}}, and is common in place names. It is usually read {{transliteration|ja|-gaya}}, and in Kamakura is pronounced {{transliteration|ja|-gayatsu}}.}}

Kamakura is crossed by the [[Namerigawa, Kanagawa|Namerigawa]] river, which goes from the [[Kamakura's Seven Entrances#The Asaina Pass|Asaina Pass]] in northern Kamakura to the beach in [[Yuigahama]] for a total length of about {{convert|8|km|0|sp=us}}. The river marks the border between [[Zaimokuza]] and Yuigahama.

In administrative terms, the municipality of Kamakura borders with [[Yokohama]] to the north, with Zushi to the east, and with Fujisawa to the west.<ref name="KOT64" /> It includes many areas outside the Seven Entrances as Yamanouchi, {{Nihongo|[[Koshigoe]]|腰越}}, [[Shichirigahama]], and Ofuna, and is the result of the fusion of Kamakura proper with the cities of [[Koshigoe]], absorbed in 1939, Ofuna, absorbed in 1948, and with the village of Fukasawa, absorbed in 1948.

=== Kita-Kamakura (Yamanouchi) ===
{{main article|Yamanouchi, Kanagawa}}

Northwest of Kamakura lies Yamanouchi, commonly called Kita-Kamakura because of the presence of [[East Japan Railway Company]]'s (JR) [[Kita-Kamakura Station]]. Yamanouchi, however, was technically never a part of historical Kamakura since it is outside the Seven Entrances. Yamanouchi was the northern border of the city during the shogunate,<ref name="onuki50">Ōnuki (2008:50)</ref> and the important [[Kamakura's Seven Entrances#The Kobukurozaka Pass|Kobukorozaka]] and [[Kamakura's Seven Entrances#The Kamegayatsu Pass|Kamegayatsu Pass]]es, two of Kamakura's Seven Entrances, led directly to it. Its name at the time used to be {{Nihongo|Sakado-gō|尺度郷}}.<ref>Yume Kōbō (2008:4)</ref> The border post used to lie about a hundred meters past today's Kita-Kamakura train station in [[Ōfuna Station|Ofuna]]'s direction.<ref name="onuki50" />

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 {{Nihongo|[[Five Mountain System|Kamakura Gozan]]|鎌倉五山}}. These three great temples were built here because Yamanouchi was the home territory of the [[Hōjō clan]], a branch of the Taira clan which ruled Japan for 150 years. Among Kita-Kamakura's most illustrious citizens were artist [[Isamu Noguchi]] and movie director [[Yasujirō Ozu]]. Ozu is buried at [[Engaku-ji]].

=== Wakamiya Ōji and the shogunate's six avenues ===
{{main article|Wakamiya Ōji}}
[[File:Turu h kei.jpg|thumb|[[Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū]] and the {{transliteration|ja|dankazura}} during the [[Edo period]]]]
Kamakura's defining feature is [[Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū]], a [[Shinto shrine]] in the center of the city. A {{convert|1.8|km|adj=on}} {{Nihongo|road|参道|[[sandō]]}} runs from [[Sagami Bay]] directly to the shrine. This road is known as [[Wakamiya Ōji]], the city's main street. Built by [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] as an imitation of Kyoto's [[Suzaku Avenue|Suzaku Ōji]], Wakamiya Ōji used to be much wider, delimited on both sides by a {{convert|3|m|ft|adj=mid|-deep}} canal and flanked by pine trees.<ref name="KOT56">Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008: 56–57)</ref>

Walking from the beach toward the shrine, one passes through three {{transliteration|ja|[[torii]]}}, or Shinto gates, called respectively {{transliteration|ja|[[Wakamiya Ōji#Ichi no Torii|Ichi no Torii]]}} ({{gloss|first gate}}), {{transliteration|ja|[[Wakamiya Ōji#The dankazura and Ni no Torii|Ni no Torii]]}} ({{gloss|second gate}}) and {{transliteration|ja|[[Wakamiya Ōji#San no Torii|San no Torii]]}} ({{gloss|third gate}}). Between the first and the second lies [[Wakamiya Ōji#Geba Yotsukado|Geba Yotsukado]] which, as the name indicates, was the place where riders had to get off their horses in deference to [[Hachiman]] and his shrine.<ref name="KOT56" />

Approximately {{convert|100|m}} after the second {{transliteration|ja|torii}}, the {{transliteration|ja|dankazura}}, a raised pathway flanked by cherry trees that marks the center of Kamakura, begins. The {{transliteration|ja|dankazura}} becomes gradually wider, giving the effect of looking longer than it really is when viewed from the shrine. Its entire length is under the direct administration of the shrine. Minamoto no Yoritomo made his father-in-law [[Hōjō Tokimasa]] and his men carry by hand the stones to build it to pray for the safe delivery of his son [[Minamoto no Yoriie|Yoriie]]. The {{transliteration|ja|dankazura}} used to go all the way to Geba, but it was drastically shortened during the 19th century to make way for the newly constructed [[Yokosuka Line|Yokosuka railroad line]].<ref name="KOT56" />

In Kamakura, wide streets are known as {{Nihongo||大路|Ōji}}, narrower streets as {{Nihongo||小路|Kōji}}, the small streets that connect the two as {{Nihongo||辻子|zushi}}, and intersections as {{Nihongo||辻|tsuji}}. [[Komachi Ōji]] and [[Ima Kōji]] run respectively east and west of Wakamiya Ōji, while [[Yoko Ōji]], the road that passes right under {{transliteration|ja|San no Torii}}, and [[Ōmachi Ōji]], which goes from [[Kotsubo]] to [[Geba River|Geba]] and [[Hase, Nagano|Hase]], run in the east–west direction.<ref name="KOT56" /> Near the remains of [[Wakamiya Ōji#Remains of Hama no Torii|Hama no Ōtorii]] runs Kuruma Ōji Avenue (also called Biwa Koji). These six streets (three running north to south and three east to west) were built at the time of the shogunate and are all still under heavy use. The only one to have been modified is Kuruma Ōji, a segment of which has disappeared.

==Demographics==
Per Japanese census data,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/soumu/toukei/documents/jinkotosetainosuii.pdf |title=Kamakura population statistics (from city website, in Japanese) |access-date=2023-06-30 |archive-date=2023-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829181256/https://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/soumu/toukei/documents/jinkotosetainosuii.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://www.citypopulation.de/en/japan/kanagawa/ Kamakura population statistics (1995–2020)]</ref> the population of Kamakura has remained relatively steady in recent decades.
{{Historical populations
| 1920 | 29,692
| 1930 | 42,206
| 1940 | 56,598
| 1950 | 85,391
| 1960 | 98,617
| 1970 | 139,249
| 1980 | 172,629
| 1990 | 174,307
| 2000 | 167,583
| 2010 | 174,314
| 2020 | 172,710
| align = none
}}

== 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:

{{Div col}}
* 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]]
{{Div col end}}

=== {{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.

== Festivals and other events ==
{{Main article|Kamakura's festivals and events}}
[[File:Mini-samurai-Kamakura Matsuri.jpg|thumb|The parade during the Kamakura Festival]]
Kamakura has many festivals ({{Nihongo||祭り|[[matsuri]]}}) and other events in each of the seasons, usually based on its rich historical heritage. They are often sponsored by private businesses and, unlike those in [[Kyoto]], they are relatively small-scale events attended mostly by locals and a few tourists.<ref name="KOT170">Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008: 170–188)</ref> January in particular has many because it is the first month of the year, so authorities, fishermen, businesses and artisans organize events to pray for their own health and safety, and for a good and prosperous working year. Kamakura's numerous temples and shrines, first among them city symbols Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and Kenchō-ji, organize many events too, bringing the total to over a hundred.<ref name="KOT170"/>

=== January ===
* January 4: {{Nihongo||手斧初式|Chōna-hajimeshiki}} at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū: This event marks the beginning of the working year for local construction workers who, for the ceremony, use traditional working tools.<ref name="KOT170"/> The festival also commemorates Minamoto no Yoritomo, who ordered the reconstruction of the main building of the shrine after it was destroyed by fire in 1191.<ref name="KOT170"/> The ceremony takes place at 1:00{{nbsp}}pm at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū.<ref name="KCL"/>

=== February ===
* Day before the first day of spring (usually February 3): {{Nihongo||節分祭|Setsubun Matsuri}} at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, [[Kenchō-ji]], [[Kaikōzan Hase-dera|Hase-dera]], [[Kamakura-gū]], etc.: Celebration of the end of winter.<ref name="KOT170"/> Soybeans are scattered in the air to ensure good luck.<ref name="KOT170"/>

=== April ===
*2nd to 3rd Sunday: {{transliteration|ja|Kamakura Matsuri}} at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū and other locations: A whole week of events that celebrate the city and its history.<ref name="KOT170"/>

===May===
* May 5: {{Nihongo||草鹿|Kusajishi}} at the Kamakura Shrine: Archers in samurai gear shoot arrows at a straw deer while reciting old poems.<ref name="KOT170"/>

=== August ===
* August 10 (or following Monday if it falls on a Saturday): A full hour of fireworks on the beach in [[Yuigahama]].<ref name="KCL"/>

=== September ===
* September 14, 15 and 16: {{Nihongo||鶴岡八幡宮例大祭|Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū Reitaisai}}: Famous festival with many attractions, the most famous of which is the {{Nihongo||流鏑馬|[[yabusame]]}}, or Japanese horseback archery, which takes place on the 16th.<ref name="KCL">Kamakura City's List of Festivals and Events</ref>

==Transportation==
===Rail===
[[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, Kanagawa|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 (Kanagawa)|Hase Station]], closest to [[Kaikōzan Hase-dera|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]].

===Highway===
* [[Japan National Route 134|National Route 134]]

==Education==
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.

==Government and administration==
Kamakura has a mayor and a city council, all publicly elected. The mayor is Takashi Matsuo.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/sityou/index.html |title=鎌倉市長のページ ／ 鎌倉市 |access-date=2008-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405135309/http://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/sityou/index.html |archive-date=2008-04-05 }}</ref> The City Council consists of 28&nbsp;members.

==Sister cities==
Kamakura has six [[Twin towns and sister cities|sister cities]]. Three are in Japan and three are overseas:<ref>[http://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/foreign01_english/1_1_outline.html Introduction to Kamakura かまくら GreenNet] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402021608/http://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/foreign01_english/1_1_outline.html |date=2008-04-02 }}</ref>

*{{flagicon|France}} [[Nice]], France, since 1966<ref name="Nice Jumellage">{{cite web|url=http://www.nice.fr/Collectivites/La-municipalite/Villes-jumelees-avec-la-Ville-de-Nice |title=Villes jumelées avec la Ville de Nice |access-date=2013-06-24 |publisher=Ville de Nice |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029114949/http://nice.fr/Collectivites/La-municipalite/Villes-jumelees-avec-la-Ville-de-Nice |archive-date=October 29, 2012 }}</ref>
*{{flagicon|Japan}} [[Ueda, Nagano]], Japan, since 1979
*{{flagicon|Japan}} [[Hagi, Yamaguchi]], Japan, since 1979
*{{flagicon|Japan}} [[Ashikaga, Tochigi]], Japan, since 1982
*{{flagicon|PRC}} [[Dunhuang]], China, since 1998
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Nashville, Tennessee]], United States, since 2014

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
*{{cite book
  |last=Hall, John Whitney
  |author-link=John Whitney Hall
  |year=1990
  |first=Peter Duus
  |editor=Yamamura Kozo
  |title=The Cambridge History of Japan
  |edition=Hardcover
  |publisher=Cambridge University Press
  |location=Cambridge
  |isbn=978-0-521-22354-6
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nT9CI5YQF_4C&pg=PA232 
 }}
* Hammer, Joshua (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=6O8VyhDbUPgC ''Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II'']. New York: [[Simon & Schuster]]. {{ISBN|978-0-7432-6465-5}} (cloth)
*{{cite book
  | last = Harada
  | first = Hiroshi
  | title = Kamakura no Koji
  | publisher = JTB Publishing
  | year = 2007
  | language = ja
  | isbn = 978-4-533-07104-1
  }}
*{{cite book
  | last =Jansen, Marius
  | author-link =Marius Jansen
  |title=Warrior Rule in Japan
  |publisher=Cambridge University Press
  |year=1995
}}  {{ISBN|9780521482394}} {{OCLC|31515317}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080612232436/http://guide.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/matsuri/matsuri_index.htm Kamakura City's List of Festivals and Events] {{in lang|ja}}
*{{cite book
  | last = Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo
  | title = Kamakura Kankō Bunka Kentei Kōshiki Tekisutobukku
  | publisher = Kamakura Shunshūsha
  | year = 2008
  | location = Kamakura
  | language = ja
  | isbn = 978-4-7740-0386-3
  }}
* [http://www.kamakuratoday.com/e/event.html Kamakura Today: Annual Events] {{in lang|en}}
*{{cite book
  | last = Kamiya
  | first = Michinori
  | title = Fukaku Aruku – Kamakura Shiseki Sansaku Vol. 1
  | publisher = Kamakura Shunshūsha
  | date = August 2000
  | location = Kamakura
  | language = ja
  | isbn = 4-7740-0340-9
  }}
*{{cite book
  |last=Kita-Kamakura Yūsui Network
  |title=Gaidobukku ni Noranai Kita-Kamakura
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  |year=2008
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  |language=ja
}}
*{{cite book
  |last=Kokushi Daijiten Iinkai
  |title=[[Kokushi Daijiten]]
  |edition=1983
  |volume=3
  |language=ja
}}
*{{cite book
  | last = Kurano
  | first = Kenji
  |author2=Yūkichi Takeda
  | title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 1: Kojiki
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  | year = 1958
  | location = [[Tokyo|Tōkyō]]
  | isbn = 4-00-060001-X
}}
*{{cite book
  |isbn=978-1-4700-3285-2
  |author=Matsu, Ri
  |year=2012
  |publisher=DigitalKu
  |title=Everyday Kamakura
  }}
*{{cite book
  |last=Matsuo
  |first=Kenji
  |title=Chūsei Toshi Kamakura wo Aruku
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  |location=Tokyo
  |year=1997
  |isbn=4-12-101392-1
  | language=ja
}}
*{{cite book
  | last = Minamoto
  | first = Shitagō
  | author-link = Minamoto no Shitagō
  | editor = Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu
  | title = Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Gaihen
  | publisher = Rinsen
  | year = 1966
  | location = [[Kyoto|Kyōto]]
  | isbn = 4-653-00508-7
}}
*{{cite book
  | last = Mutsu
  | first = Iso
  | title = Kamakura: Fact and Legend
  | publisher = Tuttle Publishing
  | date = June 1995
  | location = Tokyo
  | isbn = 0-8048-1968-8
  }}
*{{cite book
  |last=Ōnuki
  |first=Akihiko
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  |location=Tokyo
  |year=2008
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  |language=ja
}}
*{{cite book
  |last=Papinot
  |first=Edmond
  |title=Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan
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 }}
*{{cite book
  |last=Sansom, George Bailey
  |author-link=George Sansom
  |title=A History of Japan (3-volume boxed set)
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  |date=January 1, 1977
  |edition=2000
  |volume=2
  |isbn=4-8053-0375-1
}}
*{{cite book
  | last = Satake
  | first = Akihiro
  |author2=Hideo Yamada |author3=Rikio Kudō |author4=Masao Ōtani |author5=Yoshiyuki Yamazaki
   | title = Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Man'yōshū 3
  | publisher = [[Iwanami Shoten Publishing|Iwanami Shoten]]
  | year = 2002
  | location = [[Tōkyō]]
  | language = ja
  | isbn = 4-00-240003-4
  }}
*{{cite book
  | last = Satake
  | first = Akihiro
  |author2=Hideo Yamada |author3=Rikio Kudō |author4=Masao Ōtani |author5=Yoshiyuki Yamazaki
   | title = Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Man'yōshū 4
  | publisher = [[Iwanami Shoten Publishing|Iwanami Shoten]]
  | year = 2003
  | location = [[Tōkyō]]
  | language = ja
  | isbn = 4-00-240004-2
  }}
*{{cite book
  |isbn=4-634-54210-2
  |author=Takahashi, Shin'ichirō
  |year=2005
  |publisher=Yamakawa Shuppansha
  |location=Tokyo
  |title=Buke no koto, Kamakura
  |language=ja
}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|鎌倉|kamakura}}
* [http://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/ Official Website] {{in lang|ja}}
* [https://trip.pref.kanagawa.jp/ Kanagawa Official Tourism Website] {{in lang|en}}
* {{osmrelation-inline|2689445}}

{{Sister bar|auto=y}}
{{Kanagawa}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Kamakura, Kanagawa| ]]
[[Category:Cities in Kanagawa Prefecture]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Japan]]