A Warrior’s Town Turned Coastal City

Posted on 03/04/2022 Last updated on 04/12/2022

Japan is a country that has a lot to offer. Often times when people visit, they stick to the major cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka. Those are all beautiful places, but today I would like to introduce another. It’s just outside of Tokyo, and has a long, colorful history of its own. The place is Kamakuraー once a warrior’s town, now a coastal city.

Photo Credit: Yu Kato on Unsplash

Once a Samurai City

Kamakura began as a small costal town in Kanagawa prefecture. These days, one can get there in an hour by train. Back in medieval times, it would have taken half a day on foot.

From 1185 to 1333, Kamakura was the de facto capital of Japan. It even became the nation’s most populous settlement for a time. During this period, the Minamoto clan set up their Shogunate and ruled Japan from this city after their victory over the Taira clan. The Kamakura period was a crucial time for the rise of the warrior class. And with the warrior class came the rise of Zen Buddhism, as its teachings resonated with them.

The Kamakura period came to a rather abrupt end in 1333 with the Siege of Kamakura. That battle is a story in itself (complete with a mythical parting of the seas) but it is here that Kamakura’s days as the capital came to an end. But as a city, Kamakura itself would survive and continue all the way up to the present day.

Photo Credit: Ale Sansores on Unsplash

Now a Coastal City

Today, you can still visit many of the Buddhist temples sprinkled throughout Kamakura. In one, Kotokuin temple, you can see Japan’s second largest bronze statue of the Buddha. Another temple is Hokokuji where you can see an amazing bamboo garden. There are many more shrines and temples all through Kamakura that all have unique traits of their own.

Kamakura has even more to see then just its historical buildings, though. Next to Kamakura Station is Komachi Street. It is a shopping area where a lot of tourists love to visit. There are many shops and restaurants along this road, which ends at Tsuruoka Hachimangu Temple. The entire city itself is very pleasant to walk through. Komachi Street can get a little crowded, but there are many other paths you can take. When it doubt, walk towards the sea! There you can enjoy a beautiful, peaceful view of the area as well as the beach.

Kamakura is definitely a beautiful city that I think everyone should take the time to visit. It isn’t that far from Tokyo or hard to teach. If you ever find yourself in Japan and want to see something different from one of the big cities, this is one of the nicest places to go.