Sasuke Inari & Zeniarai Benten

Benzaiten & the Fox

As you may have gleaned from the headline, today we’ll be journeying back to one of my all time favorite spots in Japan, Kamakura. I’ve traversed many of Japan’s diverse prefectures but few places have managed to so capture my heart. Kamakura’s close proximity to Tokyo is undoubtedly a major factor for my repeat visits yet this area has more than enough to lure wanderlusts like myself to return again and again. From the island of Enoshima to Kamakura’s ancient shrines and sacred temples, the locality alone is easily sufficient to keep one eagerly entertained for days.

Despite the wealth of attractions within the Kamakura area, only a few are well known to foreign visitors. For this reason, Kamakura tends to be considered as only a day trip destination by most tourists. This is a real shame as Kamakura was once the military capital of Japan from 1185–1333. Hence, Kamakura is the keeper of historical pasts and stories that parallel the ancient chronicles of Kyoto and Nara.

On that note, I’d like to introduce two neighboring hidden gems within Kamakura. The first, Sasuke Inari Shrine, is an experience similar to Kyoto’s much larger Fushimi Inari Shrine. The second, a Shinto and Buddhism hybrid that stands as one of a kind, is Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine or Zeniarai Benten for short. Note that the latter…