Yoritomo’s Kamakura: Walking Where the Shogunate Began

When people think of the Kamakura shogunate they picture Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, but Yoritomo lived and governed in Okura, just east of it and right next to Wakaremichi. Today it is a quiet residential area, and walking it you trace the center of Kamakura eight hundred years ago.

The route

• Tsurugaoka Hachimangu: the starting point. Leave from the east side of the grounds toward Okura.
• Site of the Okura shogunate: a stone marker stands at the southwest corner of Seisen Elementary School. Yoritomo spent some twenty years here and died in this palace.
• Grave of Minamoto no Yoritomo: climb the stone steps to the hillside above the palace site.
• Egara Tenjin Shrine: Yoritomo is said to have built its hall to guard the shogunate’s unlucky direction.
• Site of Yofuku-ji: the site of the temple Yoritomo built after the great temples of Hiraizumi; the origin of the name Nikaido.

A fork in the road

If you still have energy, go on from the site of Yofuku-ji to Zuisen-ji. If you are tired, the bus from Kamakura-gu (Otonomiya) takes you back to Kamakura Station.

Opening hours, fees and closing days may change. Please check official information before you go.