Kamakura, Kanagawa

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Kamakura
鎌倉市

Kamakura's location in Kanagawa, Japan.
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Kanagawa
Physical characteristics
Area	39.60 km² (15.29 sq mi)
Population (as of January 2008)
Total	173,588
Density	4,380 /km² (11,344 /sq mi)
Location	35°19′N, 139°33′E
Symbols
Tree	Yamazakura (Prunus jamasakura)
Flower	Gentian
Flag
Kamakura Government Office
Mayor	Tokukazu Ishiwata
Address	〒248-8686 18-10 Onarimachi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken
Phone number	0467-23-3000
Official website: Kamakura City

Kamakura (鎌倉市, Kamakura-shi^?) is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, about 50 km south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called Renpu (鎌府, Renpu^?)^[1].

Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is sometimes considered a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the Kamakura Period. According to The Institute for Research on World-Systems,^[2] Kamakura was the 4th largest city in the world in 1250 A.D., with 200,000 people, and Japan's largest, eclipsing Kyoto by 1200 A.D.

As of January 1, 2008, the city has an estimated population of 173,588 and a density of 4,380 persons per km². The total area is 39.60 km².

Kamakura was designated as a city on November 3, 1939.

Kamakura has a beach which, in combination with the temples and the proximity to Tokyo, makes it a popular tourist destination.

Kamakura is also noted for its senbei, which are crisp rice cakes grilled and sold fresh along the main shopping street. These are very popular with tourists, especially Japanese tourists.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Early history 3 Etymology of the name Kamakura and its first use 4 Kamakura's heyday 5 The fall, renaissance and final decline of the city 6 The Meiji era and the 20th century 7 The old city's six avenues 8 Nichiren in Kamakura 9 Famous locations 10 Festivals and other events 10.1 January 10.2 February 10.3 April 10.4 May 10.5 July 10.6 August 10.7 September 11 The Shakadō Pass 12 The yagura tombs 13 Transportation 13.1 Rail 14 Education 15 Government and administration 16 Sister cities 17 Notes 18 References 19 External links

[edit] Geography

Surrounded to the north, east and west by mountains and to the south by the open water of Sagami Bay, Kamakura is a natural fortress^[3]. Before the construction of several tunnels and modern roads that now connect it to Fujisawa, Ofuna and Zushi, on land it could be entered only through seven artificial passes called Kamakura's Seven Entrances (鎌倉七口, Kamakura's Seven Entrances^?) -- sometimes translated as the seven "mouths." The natural fortification made Kamakura an easily defensible stronghold^[3]. The Azuma Kagami reports for example that Hōjō Masako came back to Kamakura from a visit the Sōtōzan temple in Izu bypassing by boat the impassable Inamuragasaki Cape and arriving in Yuigahama^[3]. Again according to the Azuma Kagami, the first of the Kamakura shoguns, Minamoto no Yoritomo, chose it as a base partly because it was his ancestors' land, partly because of these physical characteristics^[3].

To the north of the city stands Mt. Genji (源氏山, Mt. Genji^?) (92 m), which then passes behind the Daibutsu and reaches Inamuragasaki and the sea^[4].

From the north to the east, Kamakura is closed off by Mt. Rokkokuken (六国見, Mt. Rokkokuken^?) (147 m), Mt. Ōhira (大平山, Mt. Ōhira^?) (159 m), Mt. Jubu (鷲峰山, Mt. Jubu^?) (127 m),　Mt. Tendai (天台山, Mt. Tendai^?)（141), and Mt. Kinubari (衣張山, Mt. Kinubari^?)（120 m), which extend all the way to Iijimagasaki and Wakae Island, on the border with Kotsubo and Zushi^[4]. These hills all have low elevations between between 100 and 150m but, because of their steepness, in the north of the city are sometimes nicknamed Kamakura Alps^[1].

In administrative terms, the municipality of Kamakura borders with Yokohama to the north, with Zushi to the east, and with Fujisawa to the west^[4]. The city of Kamakura is the result of its fusion with the cities of Koshigoe (腰越, Koshigoe^?), absorbed in 1939, and Ofuna, absorbed in 1948, and with the village of Fukasawa, absorbed in 1948.

[edit] Early history

The earliest traces of human settlements go back to at least 10 thousand years ago^[5], as obsidian and stone tools found at excavation sites near Jōrakuji Temple (常楽寺, Jōrakuji Temple^?) near Ofuna were dated to the Old Stone Age (between 100 thousand and 10 thousand years ago)^[5]. During the Jomon period the sea level was higher than now and all the flat land in Kamakura up to Tsurugaoka Hachiman and, further east, up to Yokohama's Totsuka-ku and Sakae-ku was under water^[5]. Thus, the oldest pottery fragments found come from hillside settlements of the period between 7500 BCE and 5000 BCE^[5]. In the late Jomon period the sea receded and civilization progressed^[5].

During the Yayoi period (300 BCE - 300 CE) the sea receded further almost to today's coastline, and the economy shifted radically from hunting and fishing to farming^[5].

Kamakura had been thought to have been a rather small place in its early days, but we know now that by the Nara Period (about 700 CE) there were both temples and shrines, so it can be assumed that it was already a center of a certain size^[5]. The Sugimoto-dera was built during this period and is one of the city's oldest temples^[5].

[edit] Etymology of the name Kamakura and its first use

There are various hypotheses about the origin of its name^[6]. According to the most likely one Kamakura, surrounded as it is on three sides by mountains, was likened both to a cooking stove, or kamado (竃, kamado^?), and to a warehouse, or kura (倉, kura^?), because both only have one side open^[6]. It seems therefore that it was called at first Kamadokura, and that the syllable do was then gradually dropped^[6].

Another, and more picturesque, explanation is a legend according to which Fujiwara no Kamatari stopped at Yuigahama on his way to today's Ibaraki Prefecture where he wanted to pray for peace at the Kashima Jingu Shrine^[6]. He dreamed of an old man who promised his support, and the day after he found next to his bed a type of sword called kamayari^[6]. Kamatari enshrined it in a place called Okura^[6]. Kamayari plus Okura turned into Kamakura^[6].

We know in any case that the name was already in use in the Nara period (710 - 794) because it appears in the Kojiki, or Records of Ancient Matters^[6]. The oldest book in Japan, the Kojiki was compiled in 721 by O no Yasumaro^[6]. Kamakura is also mentioned in the Manyōshū, written around the 8th to 9th century^[1]. However, the city clearly appears in the historical record only with Minamoto no Yoritomo and his shogunate of 1192^[1].

[edit] Kamakura's heyday

The extraordinary events, the historical characters, and the culture of the century that goes 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, jidaigeki TV dramas, Kabuki plays, songs, mangas and even videogames, and are necessary to make sense of much of what one sees in today's Kamakura.

Minamoto no 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 log to being the most powerful man in the land. Defeating the Taira clan, Yoritomo became de facto ruler of Japan and founder of the Kamakura shogunate, an institution destined to last until 1333 and to have immense repercussions over the country's history. Though Yoritomo was not the first to ever hold the title of Shogun, he was the first to wield it over the whole nation^[7]. The beginning of the Kamakura shogunate marked the rise of military (samurai) power and the suppression of the power of the emperor, who was compelled to preside without effective political or military power, until the Meiji Restoration over 650 years later^[7]. In addition, this war and its aftermath established red and white, the colors of the Taira and Minamoto standards, as Japan's national colors. Today, these colors can be seen on the flag of Japan, and also in banners and flags in sumo and other traditional activities^[7].

In 1180 Yoritomo entered Kamakura, in 1185 his forces, commanded by legendary hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune, vanquished the Taira and in 1192 he received from Emperor Go-Toba the title of seii-tai shogun (征夷大将軍, seii-tai shogun^?)^[8]. The Minamoto dynasty and its power however ended as quickly and unexpectedly as they had started.

In 1199 Yoritomo died falling from his horse when he was only 51, succeeded by his 17-year-old son and second shogun, Minamoto no Yoriie^[9]. Yoriie became head of the Minamoto clan and was appointed Seii Taishogun in 1202 but, by that time, real power had already fallen into the hands of his grandfather Hōjō Tokimasa and his mother Hōjō Masako^[8]. Yoriie plotted to take power back from the Hōjō clan, but failed and was assassinated on July 17, 1204^[8]. From then on all power would belong to the Hōjō, and the shogun would be just a figurehead.

Yoritomo's second son and third shogun Minamoto no Sanetomo spent most of his life staying out of politics and writing good poetry, but was nonetheless famously assassinated in January 1219 under the giant ginkgo tree that still stands at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine under suspicious circumstances^[8]. Barely 30 years into the shogunate, the Minamoto dynasty had ended^[8].

The Hōjō Regency, a unique episode in Japanese history, however continued until Nitta Yoshisada defeated it in 1333.

[edit] The fall, renaissance and final decline of the city

A major change took place in the Kamakura Shogunate when the Hōjō, acting as regents for the shogun, usurped power^[9]. It was under their regency that Kamakura built many of its best and most prestigious temples and shrines, for example Kenchō-ji, Engaku-ji, Jufuku-ji, Jōchi-ji, and Zeniarai Benten Shrine. The Hōjō family crest in the city is therefore still ubiquitous.

Finally, on July 5, 1333 warlord Nitta Yoshisada, who was an Emperor loyalist, attacked Kamakura and took it.^[10][9].

In accounts of that disastrous 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^[9]. The city was then sacked and many temples were burned^[11]. Many regular citizens imitated the Hōjō, and an estimated total of over six thousand died on that day of their own hand^[10]. In 1953 556 skeletons of that period were found during excavations near Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine's Ichi no Torii in Yuigahama, all of people who had died of a violent death, probably at the hand Nitta's forces^[9]. The Kamakura period was over, and Kamakura would never be the same again.

When Ashikaga Takauji became shogun in 1335, he at first established his residence at the same site where Yoritomo's mansion had been, but in 1336 he left Kamakura in charge of a deputy and moved to Kyoto^[10]. Kamakura slowly recovered from the blow it had received and became a kind of secondary administrative center where laws and regulations were made^[10]. As the city of residence of the governor, it regained part of its former affluence and prestige, but not only was it nonetheless a shadow of its former self, but this period of renaissance lasted barely a century^[10].

Kamakura was heavily damaged during a siege in 1454 and almost completely burned by a great fire in 1526^[10]. Many of its citizens moved to Odawara when it came to prominence as the seat of the Hōjō family, with which they had had such a long relationship^[10]. The final blow to the city was the decision taken in 1603 by the Tokugawa shoguns to move the capital to nearby Edo, now called Tokyo^[10]. The city gradually returned to be the poor fishing village it used to be before Yoritomo's arrival^[10].

[edit] The Meiji era 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 pretty much the same reasons^[10]. The destruction of its heritage nonetheless didn't stop: during the anti-buddhist violence of 1868 (haibutsu kishaku) that followed the official policy of separation of Shinto and Buddhism (shinbutsu bunri) many of the city temples were damaged^[12]. 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^[12]. Tsurugaoka Hachiman's giant Niō (仁王, Niō^?)] (the two wooden wardens gods usually found at the sides of a 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^[13][10]. The shrine also had to destroy Buddhism-related buildings, for example its tahōtō (多宝塔, tahōtō^?) tower, its midō (御堂, midō^?), and its garan (伽藍, garan^?)^[12]. Some Buddhist temples were simply closed, like Zenkō-ji, to which the now-independent Meigetsu-in used to belong^[14].

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^[10].

The epicenter of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay. It devastated Tokyo, the port city of Yokohama, surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka, and caused widespread damage throughout the Kantō region.^[15] It was reported that the sea receded at an unprecedented velocity, and then its wave rushed back towards the shore in a great wall of water over twenty feet high, drowning some and crushing others beneath an avalanche of water-born debris. The total death toll from earthquake, tsunami, and fire exceeded 2,000 victims.^[16] 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 the sea, a wide expanse of sand was fully exposed above the waterline.^[17]

Many temples founded centuries ago are therefore carefully re-created replicas, and it's for this reason that Kamakura has just one National Treasure (the Shariden at Engaku-ji)^[1]. Much of Kamakura's heritage was destroyed and later rebuilt.^[18].

[edit] The old city's six avenues

Old Kamakura (旧鎌倉, Old Kamakura^?) (that is, the part within the Seven Entrances, which excludes Kamakurayama, Kita-Kamakura, and Nishi Kamakura) still uses much of what was the city's road network at the time of the shogunate. The most notable example of the shogunate's municipal planning is Kamakura's main street, Wakamiya Ōji Avenue, modelled on Kyoto's Suzaku Ōji^[19]. The thrust of the 1.6 km avenue moves from the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine and continues south towards Yuigahama^[19].

Wide streets are called Ōji (大路, Ōji^?)、narrower ones Kōji (路, Kōji^?), the small streets that connect the two are called zushi (辻子, zushi^?), and intersections tsuji (辻, tsuji^?)^[19].

On Wakamiya Ōji’s east runs Komachi Ōji Avenue, on its west Ima Ōji Avenue, that also go from north to south^[19].

In the opposite direction run Yoko Ōji, that from San no Torii (the Shinto gate in front of Tsurugaoka Hachiman), goes to Kita-Kamakura, and Ōmachi Ōji Avenue which goes from Kotsubo to Geba and Hase^[19].

Near the remains of Hama no Ōtori there is Kuruma Ōji (also called Biwa Koji) (see photo).

There were altogether three avenues going from north to south and three going east to west. Of these, the only one to have been modified is Kuruma Ōji, a segment of which has disappeared.

[edit] Nichiren in Kamakura

Kamakura is known among Buddhists for having been during the 13th century the cradle of Nichiren Buddhism. Founder Nichiren wasn't a native: he was born in Awa Province, in today's Chiba Prefecture, but it was only natural to a preacher to come here because at the time the city was the political center of the country^[20]. He settled down in a straw hut in the Matsubagayatsu^[21] district, where three temples (Ankokuron-ji, Myōhō–ji, and Chōshō-ji), have been fighting for centuries for the honor of being the true heir of the master^[20]. During his turbulent life Nichiren came and went, but Kamakura always remained at the heart of his religious activities. Once in Katase he was about to be executed by the Hōjō regency for being a troublemaker and was saved literally by a miracle, it's in Kamakura that he wrote his famous Risshō Ankoku Ron (立正安国論, Risshō Ankoku Ron^?), or "Treatise on Peace and Righteousness", and it's here that he preached^[20].

The locations most 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^[20]. (It must be noted however that Hosshō-ji in Zushi's Hisagi district makes the same claim, and with a better historical basis ^[22][23].) Within Ankokuron-ji lie also the spot where Nichiren used to meditate while admiring Mount Fuji, the place where his most faithful disciple Nichiro was cremated, and the cave where he is supposed to have written his Risshō Ankoku Ron^[20].

Nearby Myōhō–ji (also called "Koke-dera" or "Temple of Moss"), a much smaller temple, was erected in an area where Nichiren had his home for 19 years^[20].

The third Nichiren temple in Nagoe, Chōshō-ji, also claims to lie on the very spot where it all started.

• The Nichiren Tsujiseppō Ato (日蓮聖人辻説法跡, Nichiren Tsujiseppō Ato^?) on Komachi Ōji in the 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^[20].
• The former execution ground at Katase's Ryūkō-ji where Nichiren was about to be beheaded (an event known to Nichiren's followers as the Tatsunokuchi Persecution (龍ノ口法難, Tatsunokuchi Persecution^?)), and where he was miraculously saved when thunder struck the executioner^[20]. Nichiren had been condemned to death for having written the Risshō Ankoku Ron^[24]. Every year, on September 12, Nichiren devotees gather to celebrate the anniversary of the miracle ^[25].
• The Kesagake no Matsu (袈裟掛けるの松, Kesagake no Matsu^?), the pine tree on the road to Inamuragasaki from which Nichiren hanged his kesa (a Buddhist stole) so that it wouldn't get soaked in his blood during his execution^[24]. The original pine tree however died and has been replaced many times^[24].

[edit] Famous locations

Kamakura has many historically significant Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.

Kōtoku-in, with its monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha, is the most famous of these. 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.

The architectural heritage of Kamakura is almost unmatched. The list of its notable locations includes:

• The Asaina Pass and its Kumano Jinja
• Ankokuron-ji temple
• An'yō-in temple
• Chōshō-ji temple
• Engaku-ji, ranked Number Two among Kamakura's great zen temples
• Hatakeyama Shigeyasu's grave
• Jōchi-ji, ranked Number Four among Kamakura's great zen temples
• Jōmyō-ji temple, ranked Number Five among Kamakura's great zen temples
• Jufuku-ji temple, ranked Number Three among Kamakura's great zen temples
• Hase-dera
• Kanagawa Prefectural Ofuna Botanical Garden
• Kenchō-ji, ranked Number One among Kamakura's great zen temples
• Kōmyō-ji temple
• Kōtoku-in temple and its Great Buddha
• Meigetsu-in temple
• Minamoto no Yoritomo's grave
• Moto Hachiman Shrine
• Myōhō-ji temple
• Ōfuna Kannon [1]
• Tatsunokuchi, where Mongol emissaries were beheaded and buried.
• The Shakadō Pass (see description below)
• Tōkei-ji, famous in the past as a refuge for battered women
• Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine
• Wakamiya Ōji Avenue, with its three beautiful torii and cherry trees
• Yuigahama, a popular beach
• Zaimokuza Beach
• Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine, where visitors go to wash their coins
• Zuisen-ji, famous for its garden

The city of Kamakura has proposed 23 of its historic sites for inclusion in Unesco's World Heritage Sites list.

[edit] Festivals and other events

Main article: Kamakura's festivals and events

Kamakura has many festivals (matsuri (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^[26]. January in particular has many because it's 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 and Kenchō-ji, organize many events too, bringing the total to over a hundred^[26].

[edit] January

4th - Chōna-hajimeshiki (手斧初式, Chōna-hajimeshiki^?) at Tsurugaoka Hachiman: This event marks the beginning of the working year for local construction workers who, for the ceremony, use traditional working tools^[26]. 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^[26]. The ceremony takes place at 1:00 PM at Tsurugaoka Hachiman^[27].

[edit] February

Day before the first day of spring (usually Feb. 3) - Setsubun Matsuri (節分祭, Setsubun Matsuri^?) at Tsurugaoka Hachiman, Kenchō-ji, Hase-dera, Kamakura Shrine, etc. : Celebration of the end of winter^[26]. Beans are scattered in the air to ensure good luck^[26].

[edit] April

2nd to 3rd Sunday: Kamakura Matsuri at Tsurugaoka Hachiman and other locations: A whole week of events that celebrate the city and its history^[26].

[edit] May

5th - Kusajishi (草鹿, Kusajishi^?) at the Kamakura Shrine: Archers in samurai gear shoot arrows at a straw deer while reciting old poems^[26].

[edit] July

1st - 31st - Little Thailand Beach Event: A group of Thai restaurants and shops stays open all month on Yuigahama's beach.

[edit] August

10th (or following Monday if it falls on a Saturday): A full hour of fireworks on the beach in Yuigahama^[27].

[edit] September

14th, 15th and 16th - Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū Reitaisai (鶴岡八幡宮例大祭, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū Reitaisai^?): Famous festival with many attractions, the most famous of which is the Yabusame (流鏑馬, Yabusame^?), or Japanese horseback archery, which takes place on the 16th^[27].

[edit] The Shakadō Pass

Besides the Seven Entrances, there is another great pass in the city, the huge Shakadō Pass (釈迦堂切通, Shakadō Pass^?) which connects Shakadōgayatsu^[21] to the Ōmachi and Nagoe districts.

Although important, it was not considered one of the Entrances because it connected two areas both fully within Kamakura^[19]. Its date of creation is unclear, as it's not mentioned in any historical record, and it could be therefore recent^[19]. According to the plaque near the pass itself, the name is due to the fact that third Shikken Hōjō Yasutoki built here a Shakadō (a type of Buddhist temple) dedicated to his father Yoshitoki's memory. Always according to the plaque, the original location of the temple is unclear, but the Shaka Nyorai statue that is supposed to have been its main object of cult has been declared an important cultural property and is conserved at Daien-ji in Meguro, Tokyo.

[edit] The yagura tombs

An important and characteristic feature of Kamakura is a type of grave called yagura (やぐら, yagura^?)^[28].

Yagura are caves dug on the side of hills during the Middle Ages to serve as tombs for high-ranking personalities and priests^[28]. Two famous examples are Hōjō Masako's and Minamoto no Sanetomo's cenotaphs in Jufuku-ji's cemetery, about 1 km from Kamakura Station^[28].

Usually present in the cemetery of most Buddhist temples, they are extremely numerous also in the hills surrounding the town, where they are sometimes confused with holes dug during World War II against air raids^[28]. Yagura can be found either isolated or in groups of even 200 graves, as in the Hyakuhachi Yagura (百八やぐら, Hyakuhachi Yagura^?)^[28]. Many are now abandoned and in a bad state of preservation^[28].

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^[28]. 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^[28].

True yagura can be found in Hiratsuka, in the Miura Peninsula, in the Izu Peninsula, and even in distant Awa Province (Chiba)^[28].　

Tombs in caves can also be found in the Tohoku region, near Hiroshima and Kyoto, and in Ishikawa Prefecture, however they are not called yagura and their relationship with those in Kanagawa Prefecture is unknown^[28].　

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Rail

The East Japan Railway Company'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 narrow-gauge railway runs westward to 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, closest to Hase-dera and Kōtoku-in.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Government and administration

Kamakura has a mayor and a city council, all publicly elected. The mayor is Tokukazu Ishiwata^[29]. The City Council consists of 28 members.

[edit] Sister cities

Kamakura has five sister cities. Three are domestic and two are overseas. The sisters within Japan are Hagi, Ashikaga and Ueda. Kamakura's international sisters are Nice in France and Dunhuang in the People's Republic of China^[30].

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Hammer, Joshua. (2006). Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster. 10-ISBN 0-743-26465-7; 13-ISBN 978-0-743-26465-5 (cloth)
• Mutsu, Iso (1995/06). Kamakura. Fact and Legend (in English). Tuttle Publishing. ISBN ISBN 0804819688. 
• Kamakura's Official Textbook for Culture and Tourism (鎌倉観光文化検定公式テキストブック, Kamakura's Official Textbook for Culture and Tourism^?), Kamakura Shunshūsha, 2008 (Japanese); ISBN 978-4-7740-0386-3
• Kamakura Today: Annual Events (English)
• Kamakura City's List of Festivals and Events (Japanese)

[edit] External links

• Official web site (English)
• Kamakura's Daibutsu (English)
• Kamakura's History - Chronological table (English)
• Kamakura travel guide from Wikitravel

Kanagawa Prefecture
Cities
Atsugi | Ayase | Chigasaki | Ebina | Fujisawa | Hadano | Hiratsuka | Isehara | Kamakura | Kawasaki | Minamiashigara | Miura | Odawara | Sagamihara | Yamato | Yokohama (capital) | Yokosuka | Zama | Zushi
Districts
Aiko | Ashigarakami | Ashigarashimo | Koza | Miura | Naka
See also: Towns and villages by district edit