This article is based on a visit made on Tuesday, 15 November 2016.
Edit 3 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.
Hokoku Temple (報国寺,
Hōkoku-ji) is a Buddhist temple in the hills east of Kamakura. It is famous for the bamboo grove in its inner garden, to the point that it is sometimes nicknamed the "Bamboo Temple" (竹寺,
Take-dera).
The main hall exists in a free area. However, by paying a small fee of ¥200, you will gain access to the inner gardens, where the temple's most unique sights await you. Payment is made at a counter to the left side of the main hall; If you have a
goshuin-cho book, you may also get it stamped here, and explore the garden while you wait.
Off to the side of the main hall is the bell tower, a common structure among Buddhist temples. This one is covered by a thatched straw roof. The main hall used to have a roof like that as well, but the building was damaged during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, and subsequently was rebuilt in its current form.
I also found this pot holding what looked like a miniature koi pond... well, even more miniature than normal.
The star attraction of Hokoku-ji is its bamboo grove, in which grow over 2,000 shoots of bamboo. I have no idea how tall these stalks are, but
this particular species, known in Japanese as
moso-chiku (孟宗竹, mōsō-chiku), can grow up to 28 metres (92 feet). Apparently, when this temple was founded, there used to be an annex hall where the bamboo grove stands today. It was there that the temple's founder, known posthumously as Butsuji-Zenji, trained as a priest and wrote poetry.
The colour green seems to permeate through this place, reflected not just in the bamboo, but in the moss covering the ground as well as rock statues like these.
In the back of the grove stands a teahouse where visitors can order a cup of green tea and relax with a view of the surrounding green paradise.
There's more to the temple grounds than just bamboo, though. Far back in the hills, there are a series of small caves. These are
yagura (やぐら), a type of tomb dug into hillsides. Yagura can be found at temples and other places nearby, were built mostly for members of the samurai class, and more often than not merely serve as empty cenotaphs for people interred elsewhere. The ones here at Hokoku-ji are inaccessible, but are rumoured to hold the ashes of members of the Ashikaga samurai clan, for whom the temple was built to commemorate.
Hokoku-ji is a Zen Buddhist temple (the Rinzai Zen sect, to be exact), so of course it has a small rock garden.
And here it is, your moment of Zen!
Hours: Open 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Tea service ends 30 minutes before closing time. Closed 29 December through 3 January.
Costs: ¥300. Tea service costs an additional ¥600.
Address: 2-7-4 Jōmyōji, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken 〒248-0003
Access: From Kamakura Station (JR Yokosuka (JO), Shonan-Shinjuku (JS), and Enoshima tram (EN) lines), take Keikyu Bus 鎌23, 鎌24, or 鎌36 (East exit, platform #5), and get off at the 6th stop, Jomyo-ji ("浄明寺", 8 minutes, ¥200).
