24 Facts About Kamakura

Kamakura is a popular domestic tourist destination in Japan as a coastal city with a high number of seasonal festivals, as well as ancient Buddhist and Shinto shrines and temples.

Kamakura is crossed by the Namerigawa river, which goes from the Asaina Pass in northern Kamakura to the beach in Yuigahama for a total length of about 8 kilometers .

Kamakura's defining feature is Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, a Shinto shrine in the center of the city.

Name Kamakura appears in the Kojiki of 712, and is mentioned in the c 8th century Man'yoshu as well as in the Wamyo Ruijusho of 938.

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 to his elevation to the rank of Sei-i Taishogun in 1192.

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However, it's undeniable that Kamakura had a certain autonomy and that it had surpassed the technical capital of Japan politically, culturally and economically.

Kamakura 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 Hojo Masako died.

Kamakura was succeeded by his 17-year-old son Minamoto no Yoriie under the regency of his maternal grandfather Hojo Tokimasa.

Takahashi claims that if Kamakura ruled the Kanto, not only was the Emperor in fact still the ruler of Kansai, but during this period the city was in many ways politically and administratively still under the ancient capital of Kyoto.

Kamakura was simply a rival center of political, economic and cultural power in a country that had Kyoto as its capital.

Kamakura's decline was slow, and in fact the next phase of its history, in which, as the capital of the Kanto region, it dominated the east of the country, lasted almost as long as the shogunate had.

Kamakura was in his turn defeated in Koshigoe by Ashikaga Takauji, who had come in force from Kyoto to help his brother.

Kamakura's ruler was called Kanto kubo, a title equivalent to shogun assumed by Ashikaga Takauji's son Motouji after his nomination to Kanto kanrei, or deputy shogun, in 1349.

Motouji had been sent by his father because this last understood the importance of controlling the Kanto 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 shoguns idea never really worked and actually backfired.

Kamakura was heavily damaged in 1454 and almost completely burned during the Siege of Kamakura .

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.

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.

Many temples founded centuries ago have required restoration, and it is for this reason that Kamakura has just one National Treasure in the building category .

Much of Kamakura's heritage was for various reasons over the centuries first lost and later rebuilt.

Kamakura is known among Buddhists for having been the cradle of Nichiren Buddhism during the 13th century.

Architectural heritage of Kamakura is almost unmatched, and the city has proposed some of its historic sites for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list.

Kamakura has many festivals and other events in each of the seasons, usually based on its rich historical heritage.

An important and characteristic feature of Kamakura is a type of grave called yagura.

Kamakura Station is the terminal for the Enoshima Electric Railway.