Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
but in any case it's well worth taking a diversion as far as the captivating cave shrine
dedicated to the goddess Zeniarai Benten. There are a couple of watering holes along
the route, much needed on a sweltering summer's day; the most popular is at
Genjiyama-kōen (
ݯࢯࢁެԂ
), a pleasant park.
Zeniarai Benten
મચหఱ
South of Genjiyama-kōen, you'll pick up signs pointing steeply downhill to where a
torii
and banners mark the entrance to the shrine dedicated to the goddess
Zeniarai
Benten
, the “Money-Washing Benten”, an incarnation of the goddess of good fortune,
music and water. Duck under the tunnel to emerge in a natural amphitheatre filled
with a forest of
torii
wreathed in incense and candle smoke.
A constant stream of hopeful punters come here, despite the shrine being so hidden,
to test the goddess's powers. According to tradition, money washed in the spring,
which gushes out of a cave on the opposite side from the entrance, is guaranteed to
double at the very least, though not immediately. It's worth a shot - your notes won't
dissolve - but let the money dry naturally to retain the beneficial effects.
Sasuke Inari-jinja
ࠤॿҴՙਆࣾ
• 2-22-10 Sasuke • Daily 24hr • Free
If you're following the Daibutsu Hiking Course all the way to Hase, then rather than
retracing your steps, take the path heading south under a tunnel of tightly packed
torii
,
zigzagging down to the valley bottom. Turn right at a T-junction to find another
avenue of vermilion
torii
leading uphill deep into the cryptomeria forest. At the end
lies a simple shrine,
Sasuke Inari-jinja
, which dates from before the twelfth century and
is dedicated to the god of harvests. His messenger is the fox; as you head up the steep
path behind, to the left of the shrine buildings, climbing over tangled roots, you'll find
fox statues of all shapes and sizes peering out of the surrounding gloom. At the top,
turn right and then left at a white signboard to pick up the hiking course for the final
1500m to the Daibutsu (see p.234).
20
Hase
୩
The west side of Kamakura, an area known as
Hase
, is home to the town's most famous
sight, the Daibutsu (Great Buddha), cast in bronze nearly 750 years ago. On the way,
it's worth visiting Hase-dera to see an image of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, which
is said to be Japan's largest wooden statue. These sights are within walking distance of
Hase Station, three stops from Kamakura station on the private Enoden line.
Hase-dera
୩ࣉ
• 3-11-2 Hase • Daily: March-Sept 8am-5pm; Oct-Feb 8am-4.30pm • Free •
Treasure hall
Daily except Tues 9am-4pm •
¥300 • Hase station
Hase-dera
stands high on the hillside a few minutes' walk north of Hase station, with
good views of Kamakura and across Yuigahama beach to the Miura peninsula beyond.
Though the temple's present layout dates from the mid-thirteenth century, according to
legend it was founded in 736, when a wooden eleven-faced Kannon was washed ashore
nearby. The statue is supposedly one of a pair carved from a single camphor tree in 721
by a monk in the original Hase, near Nara; he placed one Kannon in a local temple
and pushed the other out to sea.
Nowadays the
Kamakura Kannon
- just over 9m tall and gleaming with gold leaf
(a fourteenth-century embellishment) - resides in an attractive, chocolate-brown and
cream building at the top of the temple steps. This central hall is flanked by two
smaller buildings: the right hall houses a large Amidha Buddha carved in 1189 for
Minamoto Yoritomo's 42nd birthday to ward off the bad luck traditionally associated
