Eisho-ji, a nunnery, is one of the newer temples in Kamakura, having been founded during the Edo period. It has ties to both the Tokugawa Shogunate, and to Edo Castle, as the founding nun, Eisho-In-Ni, was a descendent of the founder of Edo Castle, as well as a concubine of Tokugawa Ieyasu, first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Eisho-ji is surrounded by a wall, and it’s easy to walk by and think nothing much of it, but ducking through the low door in the wall and stepping inside reveals fairly extensive (for Kamakura) grounds, and several interesting structures, such as the bell tower shaped like hakama (traditional Japanese wide-legged trousers), and the butsuden, which, though double-roofed, is a single story. The butsuden also has carvings of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac carved into it.
Also within the walls of Eisho-ji is a small but beautiful bamboo grove through which a path winds. If you wander through the grounds in the suggested direction, you’ll end up in the grove at the end of your walk, finishing things off in a peaceful, impossibly green way.
Founded: 1638
鎌倉ペンション・Inn By The Sea Kamakura 
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