Celebrating Ancient Samurai Culture: New Year at Kamakura’s Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine

Samurai Tradition

Over 800 years ago, Kamakura flourished as Japan’s shogunal capital, with the samurai class and others nurturing a new culture of fortitude and vigor apart from the aristocratic centers of Nara and Kyoto.

Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199) founded his shogunate in Kamakura because of the natural protection provided by the surrounding mountains and ocean, and its role as a transportation hub. The area was also associated with Hachiman, the patron god of warriors considered by the Minamoto clan as its protector, and was an ideal base for ruling over samurai in the Kantō region. Shortly after establishing his government in Kamakura, Yoritomo brought the local guardian deity from nearby Yuigahama, relocating its shrine alongside his residence to legitimize Minamoto rule.

That shrine, the Tsurugaoka Hachimangū, still stands in the original location, remaining both the geographical and cultural center of Kamakura. Wakamiya-ōji street, the north-south running approach to the shrine stretching from the sea, forms the axis around which the city grew. The shrine’s structures have been destroyed numerous times by war and fire—the present shrine building dates from the Edo period (1603–1868)—but the rituals and costumes herald back to the early Kamakura period.

The main shrine is a reconstruction by Ienari, the eleventh Tokugawa shōgun, and dates from 1828. (© Harada Hiroshi)

Ancient Rituals at a New Year Hot Spots

The Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine is a popular spot to pray for good luck and typically draws some 2.5 million visitors in the first three days of the New Year Season. Stalls offering food and amusement are set up around the shrine, and in the center of the milieu of visitors performers conduct a host of ancient religious rituals, creating a lively atmosphere. New Year’s Day begins with kagura, music and dance dedicated to the gods, followed by prayers for protections against illness and calamity in the year ahead.

Eight local elementary school girls perform the opening ritual, Kagura Hajime-shiki, which is held from 7:00 in the morning on January 1. (© Harada Hiroshi)

In another ritual, a group of archers shoot arrows at a giant target to ward off evil, reflecting a custom practiced by Kamakura’s samurai. Locals involved in the construction industry conduct the Chōna-hajimeshiki, brandishing traditional carpentry tools to pray for safety at work in a ceremony dating back to the shrine’s construction.

The costumes worn by ritual participants are also significant. Men performing the various rites are dressed in sokutai, ancient ceremonial court dress​, and wear wooden clogs called asagutsu. The women wear white kimono with an outer pleated skirt known as an andon-bakama, as worn by the women serving in the palace during the Heian period (794–1185). Ancient musical instruments like the hichiriki, a double-reeded flute, accompany the kagura dance, evoking an air of refined samurai culture.

The archery ritual, Joma Shinji, is conducted from 10:00 am on January 5. A character meaning “demon” is written on the back of the target, which the archers try to pierce with their arrows to ward off evil. (© Harada Hiroshi)

The carpentry tool ritual, Chōna-hajimeshiki, takes place at 1:00 pm on January 4. Hatchets and other traditional tools are used in the rite. Steeplejack chants are also performed. (© Harada Hiroshi)

Koshōgatsu, the “Little New Year” around January 15, is when New Year decorations are ceremonially burned on bonfires at shrines. This rite, which goes by a variety of regional names, such as dondoyaki, also dates back to the Kamakura period. At the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine, it is known as sagichō, and New Year decorations are covered in straw, then bundled into a conical shape, called a saito, for burning. Many worshipers pray to the smoke as it rises into the sky.

The array of rituals observed at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine during New Year offer a unique opportunity to experience ancient samurai traditions.

The decoration bonfire ceremony, Sagichō takes place at 7:00 am on January 15. An altar is erected before the conical saito, and is also burned after the rite. (© Harada Hiroshi)

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: New Year worshipers line the stone stairs leading to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangū. © Harada Hiroshi.)