Kamakura Trip Home ＞ The tomb of Yoritomo Minamoto
The tomb of Yoritomo Minamoto
North of Seisen Elementary School on the top of small hill, there is a stone monument that reads "Tomb of Yoritomo Minamoto". Yoritomo was the first Minamoto shogun. It is said that Yoritomo’s Jibutsu-do Hall (his private Buddha statue hall) was located around this hill. Yoritomo was buried here after he passed away, and his Jibutsu-do Hall was re-named Hokke-do Hall. When The Meiji Restoration came, the name was changed again to Shirahata Shrine, in an effort to separate Shinto deities from Buddhism. The stone monument on the hill was built in the Edo period by a lord of the Shimazu family in Kagoshima who called himself a descendant of Yoritomo, so the monument is relatively new. However, it is quite undisputed that this is the final resting place of Yoritomo Minamoto and is a place that should continue to be revered.