Azumakagami

A historical account compiled by the Kamakura Shogunate, consisting of 52 volumes. The oldest record of the samurai giving description of political and social events from 1180 to 1266 in a journal style, citing many offi cial records of the shogunate, journals of aristocrats, and archives.

Barbarian-subduing generalissimo

"Barbarian-subduing generalissimo" is a commander who was provisionally appointed to conquer different tribes who did not obey the Imperial Court, the aristocratic government.

Daisetz T. Suzuki

He studied Kojizen at Engakuji at the end of 19th century. He was a Buddhist scholar who wrote books about Zen in English and made Japanese Zen culture widely known to overseas up until the 20th century. Daisetz was his Buddhist name after death.

Decree to separate Shintoism and Buddhism

It is a decree enacted by the Meiji Government in 1868 with the aim of breaking the fused state of Shintoism and Buddhism up to the Edo Period.

Five Mountains system

It is a system of positioning and regulating Zen Buddhism as the national Buddhism, including a system of dividing Zen Buddhist temples into Five Mountains and Ten Temples, ranking them, and transferring highly prestigious Buddhist priests to high-ranking temples based on ten directions chief priest system, likewise offi cial ranks. This system was introduced from Zen Buddhist temples in China to the Zen Buddhist temples of Japan at the end of the Kamakura Period.

Gokenin

"Gokenin" originally meant the samurai warriors who concluded the master-servant relationship directly with Minamoto no Yoritomo and later came to mean the samurai worriers offi cially subordinated to the Kamakura Shogunate.

Goseibai Shikimoku (The Formulary of Adjudications)

It is the basic law of the Kamakura Shogunate and was the fi rst the samurai law in Japan. As it is based on precedent since Minamoto no Yoritomo and principles of the samurai society and includes many provisions on rights and obligations of direct vassals known as Gokenin and territory inheritance, it has been interpreted that this law declared the independence of the shogunate against the law of aristocrats such as the "Ritsuryo" codes. It not only became the foundation of the following samurai laws, but also has an infl uence on the present-day civil law on the regulation related to land ownership etc.

Goshirakawain

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan. In 1158, after the Hogen Rebellion, he abdicated the throne to his son and became cloistered emperor for 34 years. (It is one form of government where an Emperor gives out his throne to his young child shortly after his accsssion and himself conducted administration as a retired emperor, "Joko", or "Hoo" who exercised the power.)

Gunga

Gunga is a country office under the "Ritsuryo system" ( a system of centralized government based on the ritsuryo code) in ancient Japan. From the excavation findings, the remains of "Gunga" has been found in present Onari Primary School of Kamakura City.

Hojo-e (life-saving festival)

It is a religious ritual of releasing captured fi sh and animals and preaching against killing. It was originally a Buddhist idea and was also adopted in Shintoism. It has been conducted in Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan since ancient times, also possessing the meaning as a harvest festival and a thanksgiving event.

Kamakura Kubo

Kamakura Kubo is a director of a branch offi ce set up by Muromachi Shogunate to rule ten countries in Kanto region, and the Ashikaga clan which had been a shogun family over the generations was appointed.

Kanjo

Ceremonial transfer of a divided tutelary deity to a new location.

Kimon (literally, ogres' gate)

Since ancient times, the north-east was considered to be the gateway for ogres or demons and regarded as a direction/orientation to be avoided for all kinds of events or activities. When houses and other facilities are built in Japan, defense against this direction (to prevent the entry of ogres and demons, i.e. bad luck) has been considered to be an important matter.

Kissayojoki (Book on Tea as Medicine)

A book of 2 volumes written by a Buddhist priest, Eisai (1141 - 1215), around 1214, introducing different types of tea, the method of making powdered green tea, and the medicinal effects of tea-drinking. It contributed to the wide spread of tea in Japan.

Movements to abolish Buddhism

It refers to the civilian activities of tearing up Buddhist temples, Buddha images, and sutra scrolls and abolishing the privilege of the Buddhist priests and Buddhist temples had been receiving. This activity was provoked by the decree to separate Shintoism and Buddhism by the Meiji Government.

Multi-sect

Since ancient times, Japanese Buddhist temples have had a character as a research or study institute of Buddhist math. In most of the Buddhist temples built in Kamakura, mathematical study of various sects including Shingon sect, Tendai sect, Jodo (Pure Land) sect, Zen sect, and Ritsu sect was actively carried out within a single Buddhist temple and this was called "multi-sect".

Regent (Shikken)

Shikken is the title of an offi cer in the Kamakura Shogunate who assists the shogun and manages the administrative work. After the Hojo Family came to possess the biggest power in the shogunate, it came to exert the practically most powerful authority.

Reizei Tamesuke

Reizei Tamesuke (1263 - 1328) was an aristocrat from the mid- to the late Kamakura Period. He had a close relationship with the Kamakura Shogunate and contributed to the development of samurai culture as a leader of "waka" poem. As he lived near Jokomyoji Temple in his later years, he was buried in this place.

Rensho

"Rensho"(so-signatory) was the assistant to the "Shikken",regent of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. It was established in 1225. Same as "shikken", Hojo clan was appointed as " Rensho".

Shogunate

Shogunate originally meant a camp of a shogun ("barbarian-subduing generalissimo"), the commander who was provisionally appointed to conquer different tribes who did not obey the Imperial Court, the aristocratic government. However, since the appointment of Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1192 as shogun, the word began to indicate the samurai government independent from the Imperial Court. In this nomination dossier, the word "Shogunate" includes the samurai government established by Yoritomo in Kamakura in 1180 and the following samurai governments.

Tier shape

Following the compounds of Five Buddhist Temples of Southern Song Dynasty China, it is a construction method of raising the ground level step-by-step from the entrance to the back of the compound.

Yabusame (mounted archery)

It is a traditional skill, exercise, and ceremony of shooting arrows at the target, riding on a sprinting horse. At Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, it is performed as a religious offering during the "Hojo-e" life-saving festival and has been passed down from generation to generation since the times of Minamoto no Yoritomo up to the present as an event that genuinely maintains the traditions of samurai culture.