The Temple of Longevity
We were returning from the Kenchoji temple and going towards the Kita-Kamakura train station (Kamakura North) to see the Daibutsu and Hasedera temples, which we didn't have time to see. We found a temple on top of a stairway. It was the temple of Chojuji ("Choju" in Japanese means longevity), a temple founded by Motouji Ashikaga (1340-1367), the first governor of Kamakura. He built this temple in honour of his father Takauji (1305-1358), who was the founder of the "Ashikaga Shogunate" in Kyoto. This site became the first Shogun from the Muromachi period (1336-1573). Kosen-Ingen, the founding priest, came to Kamakura from Kagoshima Prefecture, on the southern Kyushu Island, when he was only eight years old, and began training for the priesthood at the Engakuji temple, which is also near Kita-Kamakura Station.
