Egara Tenjin Shrine

Egara Tenjinsha has been associated with the Kamakura Shogunate since the early Kamakura period (1185-1333) and has been worshipped together with Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine as a guardian deity of the samurai government.

The shrine is dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, the god of learning, and is one of the three Tenjin shrines in Japan, along with Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Fukuoka City and Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Kyoto City.

Located to the east of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, the approach to the shrine leads from Kamakura to Kanazawa Kaido, and the shrine is situated on a small plateau about 300 meters from the entrance to the approach.

In 1104 (the 1st year of Chouji), it is said that a portrait of the god Tenjin, or Michizane Sugawara, wearing a black sash, descended from the heavens with a violent thunderstorm, and the local people, taking this as divine inspiration, built a shrine here.

The present worship and offering halls were rebuilt in 1936 and are beautifully painted in vermilion. There is also a gingko tree in the precincts of the shrine, known as the largest gingko tree in Kamakura.

The main hall is a relocated version of the main hall of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Wakamiya Shrine and is designated as a National Important Cultural Property.

There are several branch shrines in Ibaraki, Chiba, and Saitama prefectures, mainly in the Kanto region, as well as two in Aichi Prefecture and one in Hiroshima Prefecture.

About 200 meters southwest of the temple grounds is the Okura Palace, where Minamoto no Yoritomo is said to have entered Kamakura, set up his residence, and established the shogunate, and on the hillside about 300 meters west across the valley are the historic site of Hokkedo (the tomb of Minamoto no Yoritomo and Hojo no Yoshitoki).

Outline

Egara Tenjinsha was founded in 1104 to worship Sugawara no Michizane, according to shrine legend, and was once called Egara-yama Tenmangu Shrine.

According to the legend of the shrine’s founding, on August 25, 1104, the sky darkened and a thunderstorm occurred, and an image of the god descended from the sky wearing a black sashes.

The local people feared this divine experience and built a shrine to worship the image and planted a ginkgo tree to serve as a sacred tree. The large gingko tree can still be seen in the precincts of the shrine.

According to the “Shinpen Sagami-no-kuni Fudoki-sho” of 1841, this shrine was also enshrined to protect the demon gate of the Kamakura Shogunate.

The company name “Egara” is thought to be a corruption of “Egakusa-go (Egaya)” of Kamakura-gun, Sagami-kuni, which appears in the Shosoin documents, and was written as “Egara”.

The precincts of the shrine are about 7 meters higher than the surrounding area, and the shrine pavilion is built on a clearing measuring about 55 meters east to west and 50 meters north to south, with a steep artificial cliff behind the pavilion.

The shrine also has a sleeve-shaped ridge overhanging both sides of the shrine building, showing similarities with Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine.

In 1180, the Okura Gosho, the residence of Minamoto no Yoritomo, was established in Okura-go, Kamakura. Since Egara Tenjinsha was located at the demon’s gate of the shogunate, it was revered as the guardian deity of the demon’s gate and a new shrine pavilion was built.

Since then, the shrine has been associated with the Kamakura shogunate, including successive generations of shoguns, and is often mentioned in the Azuma Kagami.

During the Muromachi period (1336-1573), the shrine was patronized by the Ashikaga clan, and later by the Hojo clan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and other powerful figures. The precincts of the temple are well preserved as a religious environment, and are designated as a national historic site as a site that conveys the religious beliefs of the samurai family.

Since the mid-Edo period, the shrine was managed by Ichijoin Temple of the Kyoo Gokokuji School as a separate shrine, and became a village shrine with the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in the Meiji period.

Facilities on the precincts

Worship and Mihiden - damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, rebuilt in 1936 when the main hall was repaired.

Honden - Sangensha Nagare-zukuri style with a copper shingle roof. Originally the main hall of the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Wakamiya Shrine, it is designated as a National Important Cultural Property.

Tezumisha (water closet)

Shrine office

Ancient talisman dedication place

Mikoshi Storehouse

Kappa Brush Mound - This mound houses a paintbrush used by cartoonist Kon Shimizu in gratitude for his divine connection to Kamakura. On the front side with a picture of a kappa, the words “Kappa Brush Mound” by Yasunari Kawabata are engraved.

Paintbrush Mound - This mound was erected by cartoonist Ryuichi Yokoyama and others, and is decorated with reliefs of kappas by 154 cartoonists. It is made of bronze, 3.2 m high, 1 m in diameter, and weighs 800 kg.

Ginkgo Biloba - There is a large ginkgo tree estimated to be 900 years old. According to legend, the gingko was planted to commemorate the place where the “image of Tenjin” descended from the heavens.

Yagura - There are two side-hole yagura on the mountainside to the right of the main shrine, which are connected inside (entry to the inside is prohibited). This is also where the entrance to the Tenen hiking trail used to be.

Cultural Properties

Nationally designated as an important cultural property:

Egara Tenjinsha Main Shrine, Attached: 6 door panels
Designated as a building on July 22, 2005 (Heisei 17).
The main hall was moved and reused in 1622 from the main hall of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Wakamiya Shrine, which was built in 1316.
It has a copper-sheeted roof in the sangensha-ryu-zukuri style, and the interior has a kogumi gable ceiling and horizontal latticework. This Muromachi period shrine pavilion has a copper shingle roof and the Sangensha Nagare-zukuri style. The interior has a small gable ceiling with a small kogumi gable and a small wall above the inner long-posted roof with a horizontal latticework. It is important as a rare example of medieval architecture in the Kamakura area.
In 1936, the main hall was extensively repaired, and the hall of worship and the hall of offerings were newly built by Shintaro Oe.

Seated wooden statue of Tenjin with standing wooden statue of Tenjin
This statue was designated as a sculpture on June 11, 1977.
The inscription inside the statue states that it was built on May 8, 1261 by Taira no Masayasu, a Shinto priest of Egara, and is a rare statue with vertebrae and the number of body hairs, etc. It is a valuable source for the history of Oriental anatomy.
The statue of Tenjin represents Sugawara no Michizane, and is characterized by its severe expression and stern appearance, and is considered to be a life-size statue of the god Michizane.
The standing statue of Tenjin in the annex is estimated to have been made in the Nanbokucho Period, and is valuable for understanding the special installation situation of the Egara Tenjin Shrine.

Historic site:

Precincts of Egara Tenjin Shrine - Designated as a historic site on July 14, 2005.

Designated as a cultural property by Kamakura City:

Painting:

Tenjin image in color on paper (4 panels) with Tenjin name in ink on paper (1 panel) - Designated on October 11, 1974.

Ancient document:

Egara Tenjinsha Documents (4 volumes, 25 books, 3 pamphlets, 68 copies, 2 sheets) - designated on October 13, 1997.

Natural monument:

Ginkgo (1 plant) - Designated on July 17, 1963.