Sugimoto-dera Temple

Sugimoto-dera is a temple in Nikaido, on the eastern side of Kamakura. It is Temple No. 1 of both the Bando 33 Kannon pilgrimage and the Kamakura 33 Kannon pilgrimage, and is known affectionately as "Sugimoto Kannon". Beyond the gate you are met by a thatched Kannon Hall, rows of tall banners and mossy steps of Kamakura stone. The temple is also known for letting visitors step up into the hall and see the Kannon statues at close range.

According to tradition, the monk Gyoki enshrined an eleven-headed Kannon here, and in 734 the main hall was built at the request of Empress Komyo, which makes this said to be the oldest temple in Kamakura. When the Kannon Hall burned down in a fire in 1189, the temple's administrator is said to have carried the principal image out of the flames, and only a corner of its robe was scorched. The temple came to be revered as a place where the power of the Kannon Sutra shows itself. The temple's origin story says the three Kannon statues found their way beneath a great cedar to escape the fire, and that is the source of the name Sugimoto ("beneath the cedar").

The principal images are three standing eleven-headed Kannon, all hidden statues that are said to be shown on the 1st and 18th of each month. Two of them, attributed to Ennin and Genshin, are National Important Cultural Properties, while the one attributed to Gyoki, called the "Fukumen (masked) Kannon", is designated by Kamakura City. The Kannon Hall has a hipped, thatched roof; a ridge tablet shows it was built in 1678, and it is a Kanagawa Prefecture Important Cultural Property.

The gate is a thatched, eight-legged gate with a gabled roof, and the guardian Nio figures on either side are said to be by Unkei. The worn Kamakura-stone steps straight ahead are closed to walkers today, so visitors climb the newer staircase on the left. The grounds also hold a bell tower, a Gongen shrine, a Benzaiten hall, yagura (cave tombs), the site of Sugimoto Castle, and a group of stone towers thought to be memorials for the Shiba Ietaka family. Ietaka is said to have taken his own life here in 1337 when attacked by the Southern Court forces.

Cotton rose bloom in summer and sasanqua in winter, and the Shimansen-nichi festival visit takes place on August 10. In 2016 the temple was recognized as a component cultural property of a Japan Heritage story. Hokoku-ji (about 340 m), Jomyo-ji (about 350 m) and Kamakura-gu Shrine (about 400 m) are close by, so the Nikaido and Jomyo-ji area can be explored on foot. It takes about 30 minutes to walk from Kamakura Station, so a bus makes the trip easier.