Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine
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| Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine 鶴岡八幡宮 |
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| Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine | |
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| Type | Hachiman Shrine |
| Dedicated to | Hachiman |
| Founded | 1063 |
| Address | 2-1-31 Yukinoshita, Kamakura, Kanagawa |
| Phone | 0467-22-0315 |
| Website | 鶴岡八幡宮 (in Japanese) Homepage |
Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine (鶴岡八幡宮 Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū?) is the most important shrine in the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
It was originally built in 1063 in Zaimokuza where tiny Moto Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine now stands, and was dedicated to the Emperor Ōjin, his mother Empress Jingu and his wife Hime-gami. Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate, moved it to its present location in 1191 and invited Hachiman, the god worshipped popularly among warriors, to reside there and guard his government.
There are a number of shrines on the site, the most important of which are the Junior Shrine at the bottom, and the Senior Shrine 61 steps above. The present Senior Shrine building was constructed in 1828 by Tokugawa Ienari, the 11th Tokugawa shogun.
Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū is the center of much cultural activity and both Yabusame, (archery from horseback), and kyūdō (Japanese archery) are practiced at the shrine.
Minamoto no Sanetomo, the third Kamakura shogun, was assassinated on February 13, 1219 by an archer hiding behind the great ginkgo tree that still stands beside the great staircase at the shrine.
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[edit] Wakamiya Ōji
An unusual feature of the shrine is its 1.8 km sandō (参道?) (approach), which extends all the way to the ocean in Yuigahama and doubles as Wakamiya Ōji Avenue, Kamakura's main street. Built by Minamoto no Yoritomo as an imitation of Kyoto's Suzaku Ōji (朱雀大路?) in Kyoto, Wakamiya Oji used to be much wider and flanked by pine trees[1]. Its name ("Young Prince Avenue") derives from its having been built as a prayer for the safe delivery of the shogun's first son.
Walking from the beach toward the shrine one passes through three torii, or Shinto gates, called respectively Ichi no Torii (first gate), Ni no Torii (second gate) and San no Torii (third gate). Between the first and the second lies Geba (下馬?) which, as the name indicates, was the place where riders would get off their horses in deference to the temple[1].
Some hundred meters further, between the second and third torii, lies the dankazura (段葛?), a raised pathway flanked by cherry trees. The dankazura becomes gradually wider so that, seen from the shrine, it will look longer than it really is[1]. The entire length of the dankazura is under the direct administration of the shrine.
[edit] Tsurugaoka Hachiman before the Meiji era
Tsurugaoka Hachiman is now just a Shinto shrine but, for the almost 700 years from its foundation until the Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order (神仏判然令?) of 1868, its name used to be Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū-ji (鶴岡八幡宮寺?) and it was also a Buddhist temple, one of the oldest in Kamakura[2]. The mixing of Buddhism and Shinto had been normal for centuries until the Meiji government decided, for political reasons, that this was to change[3].
The separation policy (shinbutsu bunri) was the direct cause of serious damage to important cultural assets. Because mixing the two religions was now forbidden, shrines and temples had to give away some of their treasures, thus damaging the integrity of their cultural heritage and decreasing the historical and economic value of their properties[2]. Tsurugaoka Hachiman's giant Niō (仁王?)] (the two wooden wardens usually found at the sides of a temple's entrance), being objects of Buddhist worship and therefore illegal where they were, had to be sold to Jufuku-ji, where they still are[4][5]. The shrine also had to destroy Buddhism-related buildings, for example its tahōtō (多宝塔?) tower, its midō (御堂?), and its garan (伽藍?)[2].
In important ways, Tsurugaoka Hachiman was impoverished in 1868 as a consequence of this Meiji era policy. The imposed, inflexible reform orthodoxy of this early Meiji period was unquestionably intended to affect Buddhism and Shinto. However, the structures and artwork of this ancient shrine-temple were not yet construed as important elements of Japan's cultural patrimony.[6] What remains to be visited today is only a partial version of the original shrine-temple.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Kamakura Official Textbook for Culture and Tourism (鎌倉観光文化検定公式テキストブック?), Kamakura Shunshūsha, 2008, pages 56-57 (Japanese)
- ^ a b c Kamakura Official Textbook for Culture and Tourism (鎌倉観光文化検定公式テキストブック?), Kamakura Shunshūsha, 2008, page 28 (Japanese)
- ^ Encyclopedia of Shinto - Shinbutsu Bunri accessed on June 7, 2008 (English)
- ^ See article Jufuku-ji
- ^ Mutsu, Iso (1995/06). "Jufuku-ji", Kamakura. Fact and Legend (in English). Tuttle Publishing. ISBN ISBN 0804819688.
- ^ After 1897 when the Law for the Preservation of Ancient Shrines and Temples was enacted, a range of other factors would come to be considered.
[edit] External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- New York Public Library Digital Gallery: Link to early photograph of Shrine steps where Sanetomo was killed (posted link failed, needing to be re-established)
