Jochi Temple

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Jochi temple is one of the most popular Zen temples ,ranked fourth in the great five Zen temples in Kamakura. It is located only 5 minutes from Kita-Kamakura station. At the entrance, there is a well, called ‘Kanro’, said to be one of the Ten Celebrated Wells in Kamakura. Unique is the two-story main gate with a bell on the second floor. No other temples in Kamakura have this kind of structures. In the Donge-den hall, three wooden statues of Buddha are enthroned on the central altar as the main objects of worship. In the backyard, there are flower gardens, bamboo forest, graveyards and yagura, or caves. Kamakura did not have enough space to accommodate cemeteries. Instead of building cemeteries, their ashes were placed inside those caves. In one of these yagura is a statue of Ugajin a figure of a coiled serpent with a human head on top of it. Also enshrined in a yagura is a stone statue of Hotei or the God of Contentment and Happiness, holding a big bag on a big berry and a fan.

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