文覚上人屋敷迹 Mongaku Shōnin Yashiki Residence

Located in Yukinoshita on the south side of the Omido Bridge off the Kanazawa Highway 204, is a stone marker that reads:

This is the original location of a Shōnin (monk) house.  Before he was ordained, Mongaku Shōnin was known as Endō Moritō.  He was a security guard for the retired Emperor. When he was 18, he fell in love with Minamoto no Wataru’s concubine, Kesa no Gozen, and planned to kill Wataru.  However, he killed Kesa no Gozen by mistake. He strongly regretted what he had done and became a monk. In repentance for his deed he placed himself under the most severe conditions.  To punish himself he would sleep on the ground regardless of the weather. Everyday he would spend long periods of time under a waterfall to the point of almost dying. In April of 1182, as a primal vow to Minamoto no Yoritomo, he didn’t eat or drink for 37 days while he built a statue to Benzaiten on Enoshima Island.

Erected in 1922 by the Kamakura Seinendan Young Adult Association.