Tsurugaoka Hachimangu

photo by Σ64 · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Σ64 · CC BY 4.0

The thousand-year-old ginkgo fell in 2010: an 8-metre trunk has already grown back from its base.

The Dankazura avenue, raised above the road and deliberately narrower as it nears the shrine, was built in 1182 on the orders of Minamoto no Yoritomo to pray for a safe delivery for his wife Masako. At the top of the stone stairway, the Mai-den is the hall where, according to legend, Shizuka Gozen danced before Yoritomo, declaring her love for his brother Yoshitsune, then on the run. Beside the steps grew a thousand-year-old ginkgo, behind which, in 1219, hid the assassin who killed the third shogun, Minamoto no Sanetomo: the tree was brought down by the wind in 2010, but a new trunk more than eight metres tall has already sprouted from the severed base.

Founded in 1063, when Minamoto no Yoriyoshi brought the deity Hachiman there from Iwashimizu Shrine in Kyoto, it was moved to its present site in 1180 by Minamoto no Yoritomo, who made it the spiritual centre of the Kamakura shogunate he had founded.

ℹ️ Entry to the avenues and the shrine is free, and they are always accessible; the treasure museum has its own opening hours. The annual festival (例大祭) is held in mid-September, with horseback archery (流鏑馬) on the last day.

🚉 Kamakura · 12 min walk

Sources: manareki.com · tokyo-np.co.jp · ja.wikipedia.org

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