Hôkaiji is a temple near downtown Kamakura which was built by the later founder of the Ashikaga Shogunate and the Muromachi period, Ashikaga Takauji. Takauji and his clan had fought for Emperor Go Daigo in the Kenmu Rebellion of 1333 which toppled the Kamakura bakufu and restored political power to the emperor even if it only lasted a few years. Takauji was ordered by Emperor Go Daigo to build Hôkaiji as the first of two Tendai sect temples in Kamakura and as the new funerary temple of the Hôjô family following the destruction of the original family temple in the rebellion. The temple still carries the Imperial crest on temple lanterns along walkways around the temple.

For the casual: 4. For the educated: 4.

Hôkaiji is a cool little temple with lots of life in the summer. Healthy plants on the temple grounds fill the empty spaces and bring a very natural feel to the otherwise urban setting. For historians, seek out Tôshôji, which technically no longer exists, but this temple is where all of the Hôjô Regent Lords were buried, and during the siege of Kamakura, it is where many members of the Hôjô family gathered, including the last Regent Lord Takatori, and committed suicide by burning the temple down with them inside. The ruins are semi-recognizable and they are not too far from Hôkaiji.