歌之橋 Utanohashi (Bridge of Poems)

Along the Kanazawa Highway 204 and about halfway between Sugimotodera Temple and the first Torii of Egara Tenjin Shrine, you will find the Utanohashi Bridge. The inscription on the stone historical marker on the northeast side of the bridge states:

This is one of the Ten Bridges of Kamakura. In 1213, Shibukawa Kanemori was found guilty of a rebellion and sentenced to death.  He wrote ten Wakas (poems) to express his innocence and dedicated them to Egara Tenjin. The next morning, Shōgun Sanetomo read the poems, had a change of heart and pardoned Kanemori.  To thank the shrine’s deity, Kanemori had a bridge built here and named it the Bridge of Poems.

Erected in March, 1937, by the Kamakura Seinendan Young Adult Association.