Yui Wakamiya Shrine
Yui Wakamiya is the birthplace of the Hachiman faith in Kamakura. It is located in Zaimokuza, a seaside neighborhood just east of the main approach to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. Also known as Moto Hachiman (Original Hachiman), it was established in 1063 by Minamoto no Yoriyoshi (988–1075), a military commander serving the emperor in Kyoto, who was dispatched to northeastern Japan in 1051 to subdue rebellious samurai. Before his departure from Kyoto, Yoriyoshi prayed to Hachiman, the guardian deity of his clan, to whom the Minamoto traced their ancestry. Yoriyoshi emerged victorious after a 12-year campaign, and on his way back to Kyoto stopped in Kamakura to rest. During that sojourn, he founded Yui Wakamiya to express his gratitude to Hachiman. More than a century later, Yoriyoshi’s descendant Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199) made Kamakura the seat of power for the first shogunate (warrior-led government). Yoritomo expanded the city and established a new Hachiman shrine, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, as its spiritual center. That shrine succeeded Yoriyoshi’s more modest sanctuary, which still stands in its original location.