Hase-dera Temple, Yokohama

Perched on the wooded slopes overlooking Kamakura’s coast, Hase-dera, also known as Hase-Kannon, is one of the city’s most beloved Buddhist temples. While its exact founding date is uncertain, tradition links it to the year 736, and records connect the temple with the Kamakura period, between the late 12th and early 14th centuries.

To begin the tour, pass through the main gate and head directly toward the lower garden pond area. Here, set right into the raw rock face of the mountain, stands the hidden Benten-Kutsu cave network. It features a winding series of low-ceilinged tunnels and rock-cut caverns where the goddess Benzaiten and her followers are carved directly into the stone walls. The dark interior requires you to duck down as you explore, while the original stone walls are still blackened from centuries of burning candles.

Once you are done exploring the caves, exit the caverns and begin following the climbing pilgrimage paths up the hillside. While on this route along the middle-tier terrace, look to your right and left along the stone retaining walls to find hundreds of Sentai Jizō Statues. These small, smiling stone guardian figurines are left by grieving parents to protect the souls of children, standing in dense, silent rows.

Continue up the remaining flight of the central stone staircase to reach the upper main terrace. Walk directly into the main hall sanctuary to find the next major highlight: the magnificent wooden statue of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy. Standing more than nine metres tall, the eleven-headed figure is among the largest wooden Buddhist statues in the country. Its eleven heads symbolize different stages in the search for enlightenment. According to legend, the statue was carved in 721 from the same sacred tree as another Kannon figure enshrined in Nara, before being set adrift at sea and washing ashore near Kamakura.

After leaving the sanctuary hall, step out onto the expansive open-air observation platform adjacent to the building. You will end up on a panoramic viewpoint overlooking Kamakura and Sagami Bay. The temple is especially popular during hydrangea season in early summer, when thousands of blooms transform this surrounding hillside into a sea of colour.