Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura, Japan

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura, Japan 

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu was founded in 1063 on another site by Yoriyoshi Minamoto, dedicated to the Minamoto clan’s deity, Hachiman, the kami of samurai and war.

The shrine was moved to its current location by his descendant, the shogun Yoritomo in 1191, at the beginning of the Kamakura Period of Japanese history to celebrate his 1180 victory over the rival Taira clan.

From the beginning, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine was as much a Tendai Buddhist temple as it was a Shinto shrine, blending the two on the basis of the old Shinto gods being manifestations of the Buddha.

However, after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the two religions were forcibly separated by government decree at the expense of Buddhism, when Shinto was made the official state religion. This policy was known as shinbutsu bunri. The giant Nio guardians of the shrine-temple complex were sold off and are now at Jufuku-ji, other important Buddhist buildings were destroyed or lost.

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