The staircase to the Shinto shrine was crowded with worshippers

Worshipers on steep stairway — Stairs of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine

The main shrine of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura sits atop 61 steep stone steps. If you think that's the building seen at the top of the stairs in this photo, you may be a bit premature. The first thing you will come across after climbing the stairs is the Sakura Gate, and the Main Shrine is just beyond that gate.

Since the shrine is associated with Minamoto Yoritomo, the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, I was sure that Yoritomo had recommended Hachiman-sama to the shrine, but it was Minamoto Yoriyoshi who did so, and it was he who moved the shrine from its original location in the Zaimoku-za area when it was built in 1063 to its present location. Incidentally, a shrine called Motohachiman still stands on the original site.

When I visited there, the precincts were crowded with people. A large number of worshippers were climbing the steep stairs to the main shrine. The trees on the stairs are large and must have seen a long history, but they must not have existed when the shrine was built, of course.

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