Nagoe Pass and the Mandara-dō yagura

photo by Kaba-maru · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Osumi Akari · CC BY-SA 4.0

The rock-cut tombs can only be seen twice a year, and only from Saturday to Monday.

The pass is a cutting in the rock as wide as a person, and the tool marks can still be seen on the walls: it was one of the only gateways into Kamakura. Beside the pass a hillside opens up, riddled with medieval burial chambers, the yagura, by the dozen. ⚠️ Those can only be seen in two windows a year, and within the windows only from Saturday to Monday. The path to get there is steep and there is no car park.

One of the seven cut passes that closed Kamakura off from the outside, on the border with Zushi. It has been a National Historic Site since 1966, with four extensions of the boundary between 1981 and 1992. The group of yagura known as Mandara-dō lies within the protected area.

ℹ️ Free admission. ⚠️ **The Mandara-dō yagura open only in windows**: in 2026 from 18 April to 31 May, 10:00–16:00, and from 24 October to 14 December, 10:00–15:00, in both cases **only on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and public holidays**. You can go in until five minutes before closing. No booking needed. **There are no car parks and no bicycle parking**, and you go up a steep path. Ten to fifteen minutes on foot from the Midorigaoka-iriguchi or Kamegaoka-danchi-kita bus stops.

🚉 Kamakura · 27 min walk

Sources: city.zushi.kanagawa.jp · zushitrip.com · tripadvisor.com

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