Kamakura -- Jufukuji Temple

Well, I had to be choosy about what to visit -- especially since I got such a late start leaving Tokyo, and then getting distracted by all the shops in Shopping Town! AFter I left shopping town it was time to get my bearings, so I sat down on some wall in front of a parking lot. I must have looked lost sitting there studying my map... because some nice old man came up to help me. He was dressed in a sort of uniform and looked as if he might be a city worker. He had a stack of touristy type maps with him and he opened one up for me. He asked me where i wanted to go, and I showed him on my map that I wanted to go see the Daibutsu, or Buddha. He told me it would take an hour to walk there, but if I walked back to the train station, and took the Enoden line, I could get there in much less time.

In any case -- it was getting late. I thanked him and began the long walk back to Kamakura Station. I decided to take an alternate route that would take me by Jufukuji Temple -- the closest site to where I was.

Jufukuji is the number three of Kamakura's five great Zen temples. It is a branch temple of the Rikai sect's Kenchoji school. Jufukuji was founded by Minamoto Yoritomo's wife Masako after her husband passed away, and by priest Eisai who introduced Zen Buddhism into Japan and is the founder of the Rikai sect. I think Minamoto's wife and father are actually buried in the cemetary there!! Because its still in operation, you can't really go inside -- you can visit the cemetary though. So that's what I did!

Here are some pictures of Jufukuji Temple:








Looks old doesn't it?? I thought so!! I took a movie of it too, but I can't post it here -- its too big. You will just have to wait until I get home to see it!