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South to Kencho-ji and Enno-ji





At the main road near Jochi-ji, walk southwest for another five minutes to find the greatest of Kamakura's Zen temples, Kencho-ji (8.30am-4.30pm; Y300). Headquarters of the Rinzai sect and Japan's oldest Zen training monastery, Kencho-ji is more formal than Engaku-ji and a lot busier, partly because of the neighbouring high school and some major construction work. It contains several important buildings, most of which have been relocated here from Tokyo and Kyoto to replace those lost since the temple's foundation in 1253. Again, the layout shows a strong Chinese influence; the founding abbot was another Song Chinese emigre, in this case working under the patronage of Hojo Tokiyori, the devout fifth Regent and father of Engaku-ji's Tokumine.

The main complex begins with the towering, copper-roofed San-mon, an eighteenth-century reconstruction, to the right of which hangs the original temple bell, cast in 1255 and considered one of Japan's most beautiful. Beyond San-mon, a grove of gnarled and twisted juniper trees hides the dainty, nicely dilapidated Butsu-den. The main image is, unusually, of Jizo seated on a lotus throne, his bright, half-closed eyes piercing the gloom. Behind, the Hatto, or lecture hall, which numbers among Japan's largest wooden Buddhist buildings, is under restoration and will be closed until 2003. But in any case the curvaceous Chinese-style gate, Kara-mon, and the Hojo hall beyond are much more attractive structures. Walk round the latter's balcony to find a pond-garden generally attributed to a thirteenth-century monk, making it Japan's oldest-surviving Zen garden, though it's recently been spruced up considerably.

The path heading round behind the Hojo, up steep steps and past Hansobo , a shrine guarded by statues of long-nosed, mythical tengu , is the start of the Ten'en Hiking Course . It takes roughly two and a half hours to complete the five-kilometre trail from Kencho-ji, which loops round the town's northeast outskirts to Zuisen-ji ; for a shorter walk (2.5km), you can cut down earlier to Kamakura-gu .

Sticking to the main road, though, from Kencho-ji there's one last temple to visit before you hit central Kamakura. Enno-ji (daily 9am-3.30/4pm; Y200) looks fairly insignificant, but inside its hall reside the red-faced King of Hell, Enma, and his ten cohorts. This ferocious

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crew are charged with deciding the appropriate level of reincarnation in your next life and their wonderfully realistic expressions are meant to scare you into better ways. In fact the original statues are in safekeeping in the National Treasure Hall, but usually only one is displayed there, whereas here you get to see the whole gang.

From Enno-ji it's only another five minutes through the tunnel and downhill to the side entrance of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu.


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10/8/2008 11:38:02 AM

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