永福寺旧蹟 Yofukuji Temple Site

Kamakura City began an archeological excavation of this site in 1981 and confirmed that in 1192, Minamoto no Yoritomo founded a temple here called Yofukuji in the same style as Nikai-Daido-Daichōjūin of Hiraizumi, in Iwate Prefecture. Yofukuji was built and dedicated to the war dead.  The historical marker reads:

The temple used to be called Nikaido.  One area of Kamakura is still named after this.  In 1189, Minamoto no Yoritomo attacked the Fujiwara clan at Hiraizumi for having given shelter to his brother, Yoshitsune. He then returned to Kamakura, made a replica temple of Hiraizumi’s Daichōjūin, and called it Yofukuji. This was a temple of magnificent scale and appearance.  It is said to have had no equals. However, this temple was abandoned and disappeared after the Kanto Kanrei’s authority weakened in 1455.

Erected in 1920 by the Kamakura Seinendan Young Adult Association.