Category Archives: Kamakura

25th February: Kamakura – Diabutsu

Diabutsu

The Diabutsu or Giant Buddha of Kamakura is over thirteen metres tall, weighs 93 tonnes and was cast in bronze in 1252.  It is located inside the Kotokuin Temple, which belongs to the Jodo or Pure Land sect of Buddhism.  It was originally inside a hall but this was damaged by storms in 1334 and 1369 and then swept away by a tsunami in 1498.

Its hands form a gesture of meditation called dhyani mudra and the form of the clothing is said to reflect Western classical influence originating from Alexander the Great’s colony in what is now Afghanistan.  It is hollow and it is possible to climb inside and look out of a view at the back but we were too late in the afternoon for that.

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Diabutsu

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Kamakura Period 1185-1333

The Heian Period, 715-1185, saw control of much of Japan by a tiny literate aristocratic elite who lived in Kyoto.  They owned large shoen estates and appointed close family members to administer them.  The end of this period was due to the rise of regional warlords who were much less closely related to an Emperor.  Soldiers were taking over from the aristocrats.

The beginning of the Kamakura period followed the eclipse of the Fujiwara clan and a conflict between the Taira and the Minamoto clans.  In 1159, the Taira killed Minamoto Yoshitomo and appeared to have wiped out the Minamoto clan.  However, they did not kill his son Minamoto Yoritomo, who completely defeated the Taira in 1185 and established a military government in Kamakura.  Success did not last for the Minamoto clan, though.  Yoritomo had married a Hojo, related to the Taira, and after he died in 1199 the Hojo took control and his sons were assassinated.

The administration in Kamakura was known as the tent bakafu or tent government.  There was no attempt to build grand buildings for government so the remarkable old buildings in Kamakura today are religious ones.  The Emperor remained in Kyoto while the Shogun and (after Yoritomo) the Regents exercised effective power in Kamakura.  The Kamakura era came to an end following the successful repulsion of the Mongol invasion.  Resources were strained and leading daimyo felt insufficiently rewarded.  A successful rebellion led to a return to Kyoto and the Warring States Period.

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Kamakura street scene

This final image is from the streets of Kamakura, as we were wandering around looking for a likely place to eat.

25th February: Kamakura – Hase-Dera

Shop in Hase, Kamakura

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Shop in Hase, Kamakura

From Kitakamakura, we took a couple of trains through Kamakura to Hase, heading for the Hase-Dera Temple.  Here are a couple of the colourful roadside shops in Hase.

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Shu Genji Temple

Here is a curious historical footnote, just at the side of the road, as explained in the noticeboard.  In the late thirteenth century, this was the residence of Yorimoto Shiro Kingo who was a follower of Nichiren Buddhism, a branch of the Jodo or Pure Land sect remarkable for its contemptuous attitude to other Buddhist sects.  Shiro Kingo decided to commit suicide (presumably Seppuko) after the suppression of Nichiren (the founder of the sect) by authorities in 1271.  After his death his residence was converted into a temple.  What makes this chronology hard to follow is that Nichiren died in 1282 and Shiro Kingo died in 1296 at the age of 72.  It seems a bit strange to decide to commit suicide and then carry it out 25 years later.

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Parked near the gate of the temple I found a rather cute retro coupé of a marque I could not identify.

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Sanmon

While this is the Sanmon or main temple gate, you don’t actually pass through it to enter.

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Jikoden Hall

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Naibutsu-den Hall

Hasedera dates from 736 and was originally a temple of the Tendai sect of Buddhism but later became a temple of the Jodo or Pure Land sect, a sect founded in 1175 just before Zen arrived in Japan in 1191.   The two halls above are part of the temple complex, though actually outside the main gate.

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Above, in the Benten-kutsu (cave) are many stone statues devoted to Benzaiten, a Boatsu known as the Sea-Goddess, also goddess of knowledge, art and beauty and especially music.

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A waterfall and external roots in the garden of the temple.

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A particularly poignant assemblage.  These are statues of Jizo, a Boatsu (Bodhisattva) who is the guardian of children.  The statues represent the souls of the stillborn, miscarried or aborted.  Each statue represents a specific child and they only remain in place for a year before giving way to another.

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Kannon-do Hall

This is the main hall of the temple.  According to legend, a monk called Tokudo carved two huge statues of Kannon (goddess of mercy) out of camphor wood in 721.  One became the basis of the Hase-dera Temple in Nara; the other he cast adrift in the sea so it could find a propitious location.  It came ashore in Kamakura in 736 and led to the founding of the Hase-dera Temple here.  This statue was gilded in 1342 and displays in the Kannon-do Hall, though photography is not permitted there.

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Temple bell

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Statues just outside Kannon-do Hall

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Kyozo Sutra Archive and garden

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They are contemplating a statue of the feet of Buddha, from memory

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A boatsu on a lotus leaf.  Indian influence perhaps?

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View of Hase (part of Kamakura) from Hase-dera grounds

25th February: Kamakura – Tokeiji

Steps to Main Gate

Next we visited Tokeiji, Japan’s first and probably the World’s first women’s refuge, just across the road from Engaku-Ji at Kitakameruka.

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Kakusan, wife of Hojo Tokimune, the eighth Kameruka era regent founded Engaku-Ji in 1285 as a Rinzai Zen nunnery.  Initially it was to pray for the soul of her dead husband but she also came to offer refuge to women who wanted to escape from their husband.

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In Feudal Japan at the time,  a husband could divorce his wife at any time with a brief written declaration but the wife had no right for divorce no matter what happened.  However, if she were to abscond and make it to Tokeiji, then her husband could not claim her.  She could then stay at Tokeiji without having to become a nun.  After three years (later reduced to two), she could claim a divorce and Tokeiji could also force husbands to accept a divorce before that time.

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Tokeiji fulfilled this role for over 600 years.  In 1873, the new Meiji government passed a law to allow divorce and established a family court.  Tokeiji no longer had a role as a refuge and after the last Head Nun died in 1902, it ceased to be a nunnery.  It then became part of Engaku-Ji with a male Head Priest.

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Offerings in a cemetery beyond the Temple

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The old and the new

25th February: Kamakura – Engaku-Ji

Stairs leading up to the Somon or Outer Gate of Engaku-Ji

After returning from Hokkaido, I had a free day in Tokyo.  This was mainly to allow a bit of leeway in case there were any problems with the return flight from Hokkaido.  Rather than spending it in Tokyo, though, I elected to take a short train trip south to Kamakura, the administrative capital of Japan from 1192 to 1333.  Brian, who was along on the Hokkaido tour, came with me.

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Sanmon or Main Gate, looking through to the Butsuden, or Main Hall

First stop was Engaku-Ji, a Zen Buddhist temple very close to the Kitakamakura railway station.  The temple was founded in 1282 to salve the souls of those lost during the wars against the Mongols, both Mongols and Japanese.

The Mongols under Kublai Khan attempted to invade in 1274 and in 1281.  In both times, they attempted a landing in Kyushu, close to Korea.  The first time, they were initially successful in a land battle but withdrew to their ships when the weather worsened and most of the ships were then lost in a typhoon.  The second time, they appeared in even greater numbers but the shore they were attacking had been fortified and they were thrown back.  Then another typhoon arose and sunk most of the Mongol fleet.  This was made worse because they had tried to economise and most of their fleet were river boats rather than ocean-going ships. As well as representing a fortuitous salvation for the Japanese, this was the high point of Kublai Khan’s territorial ambitions.  (Typhoon = kamikaze = divine wind).

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Buddha and lanterns

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Boatsu (or Bodhisattva) seated on Lotus Leaf

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Dragon

The Buddha (or is it a Boatsu?), Boatsu and Dragon above are in the Butsuden or Main Hall.  The head part of the Boatsu is original, dating from the early 14th century; lower parts were restored in 1625.  The Boatsu itself is 2.6 metres high, seated.  Much of the gold leaf is gone but it is not deemed appropriate to restore it.  The dragon is on the ceiling, painted in the early 20th century.  The building itself was recreated to the original design after the previous one became severely damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.  Most of the complex has been rebuilt at one time or another after damage from fire or earthquake.

Sanmon or Main Gate from the other side

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Dai-Hojo Gateway

The Sanmon was rebuilt in 1783 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of the founding priest Mugaku-Sogen.  The gateway just above is a side entrance to the Dai-Hojo or Living Quarters for the Chief Priest.

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Kannon statues at Dai-Hojo

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Kannon engraving at Dai-Hojo

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Kannon engraving at Dai-Hojo

There are many statues and engravings of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, in the courtyard of the Dai-Hojo.  Any of the images will look better if you click on them to see them larger on a dark background but that particularly applies to the two engravings above.

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Dai-Hojo altar

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Ancient tree

The tree is in the courtyard beside the Kannon statues.  If I had been able dial in the weather, I would have had the tree in heavy fog and either covered in snow (unlikely here) or in spring or autumn.

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Myokochi

Myokochi means Pond of Sacred Fragrance.  It was designed by the founding priest though remodeled in 2001 and probably quite different from the original.  The building behind is the actual residence of the current Chief Priest.

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Entrance to Shariden

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Entrance to Shariden (further in)

This is the entrance to Shariden, the centrepiece of the entire Temple.  It is the oldest building in the Temple and the only building in the Temple designated as a National Treasure, partly as the oldest Chinese-style building in Japan.  Limited access is available on two days each year only.

The original building, which no longer exists, was built in 1285 but destroyed by fire in 1563.  This building was built in the early 15th century as the main hall of a nunnery but fell into decay after the Head Nun was abducted by local warlords in a battle in 1556.  Some decades later, the Temple itself took over the building and restored it.

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Blossoms and Mural

The blossoms and mural are in the entrance hall of a sub-temple, further on from Shariden.  This view was only available from a distance.  I know where the building is but can’t tell you of its name or its history.  There are seventeen subtemples in the complex and there have been as many as forty-two.

Itinerary of Journey to Japan

I traveled in Japan in January and February 2012.

Brief Itinerary

Special Topics

Completed posts