Kamakura Museum

• Kamakura Museum, or Kamakura Kokuhokan
• Located: In the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine precincts
• Address: 1-1, Yukinoshita 2-chome, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-22-0753
• Web Address: http://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/kokuhoukan/index.htm
• Admission: 300-yen
• Open: 9:00-16:30 (Closed on Monday)
• Phone: 0467-22-0753
• Fax: 0467-23-5953

Access map

Due to catastrophes such as earthquakes, typhoons, conflagrations, floods, famine and wars, many of valuable artifacts and antiquities in Kamakura were lost or destroyed. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 in particular was most devastating.

For the purpose of protecting those finest antiquities, Kamakura Museum was constructed in 1928, five year after the Earthquake, to showcase masterpieces of the past. It also functions as a Kamakura cache for antiquities of great importance and presently has 4,800 items including five national treasures. The building design was modeled after the Shoso-in in Nara. The Annex was built in 1983.

Main arts and crafts owned or stored by the Museum

• A 167.5-centimeter tall statue of Jizo Bosatsu, or Ksitigarbha-bodhisattva in Sanskrit. Owned by Jufukuji. Made during the Kamakura Period. An ICA.
  
• A pair of sedentary statue of Gushojin {goo-sho-gin}
  Gushojin, a Taoism deity, is believed to be on our shoulders from the moment we were born until we die and records all our behaviors so that he may report all our lifetime performances to Enma, or Yama in Skt. at the netherworld court. Owned by En'noji. See En'noji for details.
  
• A 103-centimeter tall sedentary statue of Shoko-o, one of the Ten Kings of the Hades. Shoko-o is the judge who appears on the 14th day after death.
  When and by whom the statue was made had been unknown until 1923, when the Great Kanto Earthquake hit the area and the statue was half-damaged. Repairmen found an inscription was affixed inside the statue, which clearly read that it was carved in 1251 by a Kamakura sculptor named Koyu (birth and death years unknown). It represents a typical technique in vogue back at the time in Kamakura. An ICA, owned by En'noji.
  
• A statue, 79.1-centimeter in height, called Kisotsu {key-soh-tsu}, or a jailer in the Hell. Made in the 13th century. Owned by En'noji.
  
• A pair of Amida Bosatsu statues, one owned by Jomyoji and the other by an individual.
  
• A staff with human-head called Nintojo {nin-toh-Joe}
  The two heads represent right and wrong: the gentle face for the right and angry one for the wrong. The staff is said to be used by the netherworld judges or the Ten Kings in Hades to judge whether or not the deed of the accused are right. The staff is capable to sense every good and bad things a defendant did during his or her life. Sounds like a magic wand. Owned by En'noji.
  
• A sedentary statue of Jizo Bosatsu
  Fashioned during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). Sculptor unknown. Owned by Jochiji. An ICA.
  
• Hokyo-into, Itabi (e-tah-be) and Gorinto
  Hokyo-into, 93.5 centimeters in height, was unearthed from a hill behind Komyoji. It revealed the year of make was 1333. Buried under the ground for a long time, it escaped decay and keeps the original figure. Made out of andesite. Gorinto made in 1330 and owned by Zeniarai Benten Shrine. In between is a Itabi, or cenotaph made of stone slab, carved in 1306 and owned by Kaizoji.
  
• A statue of Fudo-Myo-o made during Heian Period, owned by Gokurakuji.
  
• A statue of Yakushi Nyorai (Bhaisajyaguru in Skt.) flanked by its satellite Nikko and Gakko Bosatsu forming a Yakushi trinity. The statue of Yakushi Nyorai was made during the Heian Period (794-1185) and the satellites in the Edo Period (1603-1868). Owned by the Tsuji-no-Yakushido hall. ICAs designated by the Prefecture of Kanagawa. Also flanking the trinity are two statues of the Twelve Guardian Ministers (Juni Jinsho) for Yakushi Nyorai.
  
• A sedentary statue of Thousand-Armed Kan'non or Sahasrabhuja in Skt.
  Fashioned during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). Owned by Kenchoji. An ICA designated by the Prefecture of Kanagawa.
  
• A statue of Sho Kan'non, or Arya-avalokitesvara in Skt., made during Muromachi Period. Owned by Jufukuji.
  
• A statue of Kasho (Kasyapa in Skt.), one of the ten immediate disciples of the Lord Buddha. Owned by Jufukuji.
  
• Shumidan, or a pedestal, on which the main object of worship is placed. Modeled after the Sumeru, the mountain in the Buddhist universe. An ICA owned by Kenchoji. Made during the Kamakura Period.
  
• A stone, sedentary statue of Datsueba {dah-tsu-a-bah} made in 1655 and, owned by Kuhonji. An ICA designated by the Prefecture of Kanagawa.
  
• A stone statue of Yakushi Nyorai made in 1296, owned by Kuhonji. An ICA designated by the Prefecture of Kanagawa.
  
• A stone, sedentary statue of Enma, or Yama in Skt. made in 1655, owned by Kuhonji. An ICA designated by the Prefecture of Kanagawa.
  
• A bell cast in 1397, owned by Engakuji.
  
• Un-ban {Um-ban}, a bronze gong used at Zen temples to signal time.
  
• A bell cast in 1248, owned by Jorakuji, Ofuna, Kamakura. One of the three most important bells in Kamakura. An ICA.
  
• Hoto {hoh-toh}, similar to Gorinto but slightly different, was made in 1327.
  
• A sedentary statue of Tokiyori Hojo (1227-1263), the Fifth Hojo Regents, made in the 13th century. Owned by Kenchojii. An ICA
  
• A similar statue of Shigefusa Uesugi, owned by Meigetsu-in. Both are almost identical, but slightly different: Tokiyori has a scepter in his right hand, while Shigefusa does not and Shigefusa wears a beard. An ICA.
  
• A statue of Benzaiten made in 1266. A wooden, sedentary female statue, 96 centimeters tall. (Sometime she is naked and wears a piece of cloth around her waist.) She assume an easy posture relaxing one knee and poses as if she is playing a Japanese lute. Unique is that this one is coated with white pigment to realistically show woman's white skin. An ICA, formerly enshrined at Hataage Benzaiten at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu.
  
• A sedentary statue of Priest Eisai, famous for its square head, made in the 13th or 14th century. Owned by Jufukuji.
  

In addition to those above, the Museum keeps the following five National Treasures, which are rarely on display:
(1) A self-portrait of Daikaku Zenji (Buddhist title of Priest Rankei-Doryu), the founding priest of Kenchoji. A portrait of the great priest sitting on a chair.

(2) A Taima mandala picture scroll, owned by Komyoji. It originates in Taima-dera in Nara, of which main object of worship is Taima Mandala. Part of Taima Mandala can be seen at the temple's website.

(3) A lacquered writing-box designed in mother-of-pearl inlay owned by Tsurugaoka Hachimangu.
A picture of a typical lacquered box with mother-of-pearl inlay at TNM.

(4) Rules and regulations prescribed by Daikaku Zenji following the teachings of Zen Buddhism.

(5) Ancient fittings for Shinto deities owned by Tsurugaoka Hachimangu

Ukiyo-e collection also has to be referred to. The Museum has 200 sets of Ukiyo-e paintings, all of which are not woodblock printing but drawn by painter's hand. The late Mr. Takeo Ujiie (woo-g-e-a), founder of a pharmaceutical company, used to have them, but donated all of them to the Museum in 1974 forming a foundation called "Ujiie Collection." In January every year, part of collection are on view. The pictures look like Ukiyo-e, but are obviously clearer than conventional Ukiyo-e.

(Updated March 2010)

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