Minamoto no Yoritomo: Founding the Kamakura Shogunate

After the Heiji Rebellion of 1160, Minamoto no Yoritomo was sent to Izu and is said to have spent nearly twenty years there before taking up arms. During that time he married Hōjō Masako. Records say only "exiled to Izu Province"; the name Hirugakojima is a later account, and excavations found nothing from the late Heian period. Today a park at the traditional site has a bronze statue of Yoritomo and Masako, standing toward Mount Fuji.

Location precision: The name Hirugakojima appears only in later accounts, and whether this park is the exact exile site is uncertain.

Visitor guidance: The park has a bronze statue of Yoritomo and Masako facing Mount Fuji.

In exile, Yoritomo greatly revered Mishima Taisha, and he prayed at the shrine at the start of his struggle against the Taira clan. After his government was established he rebuilt it on a large scale, and worship of the Mishima deity became popular with the samurai class.

Visitor guidance: Mishima Taisha is a working shrine in Mishima, Shizuoka.

In 1180 Yoritomo entered Kamakura and built his residence in a valley called Ōkura, in today's Nishi Mikado. This was the seat of his first military government, and he became founder of the Kamakura shogunate, an institution that lasted 141 years. Historians disagree about when the period begins, anywhere from 1180 to his title of Sei-i Taishōgun in 1192.

Location precision: The residence is an estimated site, so the pin marks the area of Ōkura rather than a surviving building.

The shrine's entrance sign says it was founded in 1185 after Yoritomo dreamed of a kami who told him of a miraculous spring in a valley. The spring and its tradition are certain, but the shrine at that date is not. The custom of washing coins came later: in 1257 the Hōjō regent Tokiyori recommended the faithful to wash their coins. Today the shrine is hidden by rock walls and can be reached only through a tunnel.

Visitor guidance: The shrine is reached through a tunnel.

In the summer of 1189 Yoritomo conquered Mutsu and Dewa, razing the northern Fujiwara capital of Hiraizumi, a city that rivaled Kyoto in population, size and splendor. Chūson-ji survived the conflict but fell into decline. Its Konjiki-dō, built in 1124, is covered in gold leaf inside and out. Today it sits behind thick acrylic glass within a concrete building.

Visitor guidance: Chūson-ji's Golden Hall is visible only from the front and sides.

Yoritomo moved this shrine to its present site in 1191, inviting Hachiman to protect his government. In 1192 he established his military government in Kamakura and took the title Sei-i Tai Shōgun. He also built the avenue that leads to it, Wakamiya Ōji, as an imitation of Kyoto's Suzaku Ōji, and had his father-in-law Hōjō Tokimasa carry the stones for the raised path (dankazura) by hand. It is now a Shinto shrine.

Visitor guidance: Open to visitors in Kamakura; Wakamiya Ōji runs from the sea to the shrine.

In 1199 Yoritomo died after falling from his horse, aged 51. He was buried in a temple that had housed his tutelary goddess. Beside Shirahata Shrine, steps lead up to a stone tower said to be his grave, on a spot presumed to be the site of his Hokkedō mausoleum. The tower is traditionally identified as his tomb, and the exact burial place is not certain.

Location precision: The stone tower is traditionally identified as Yoritomo's grave, and the exact burial spot is only presumed.

Visitor guidance: The stone tower stands up a flight of steps from Shirahata Shrine.

After Yoritomo's line ended, real power passed to the Hōjō regents, whose regency lasted until 1333. Kenchō-ji, completed in 1253 under regent Hōjō Tokiyori, ranks first among Kamakura's Five Great Zen Temples. The Gozan system it led had an important role in the shogunate's organization.

Visitor guidance: Kenchō-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura.