二十五坊旧蹟 Twenty-five Monks Historical Site

Behind Hachimangu and across from the Kamakura Modern Art Annex along the road to Kita Kamakura is a stone historical marker that reads:

This area was where the monks of Hachimangu used to live from the time of Shōgun Minamoto no Sanetomo.   It is also where the head priest of the shrine and the high ranking monks sometimes lived. This is also the place where Kugyō hid, with the head of Sanetomo in his hands, according to a witness named Ajari.  

Around the year 1400, the Japanese word for “building” that ended with -bō was changed to -in.  After the decline of the Kamakura Kanrei’s (representative of the Shōgun) power, the number of buildings in the shrine compound decreased so much so that in 1592, only seven remained.  Around the year 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu rebuilt five structures, bringing the total number up to twelve. However, at the time of the Meiji Restoration they all disappeared.

Erected in March of 1918 by the Kamakura Seinendan Young Adult Association.