Almost immediately, Yoritomo established his headquarters on a rise at the end of the largest of many valleys that open to the sea. This would become the main thoroughfare of a teeming medieval town. In the years to come, Yoritomo's family and retainers also came to Kamakura. By mid-century, the place had become the major city of the East Country, with a host of temples and shrines and a large population of warriors, servants, priests, and a handful of courtiers who found residents of the area welcome patrons. At Tsurugaoka Lower Shrine, in particular, the green of the pines and oaks grows ever more luxuriant, and there is never a deficiency in the offerings.
People say that the divine benevolence is the same as at the parent shrine.
The phoenix tiles gleam in the sun, the bell booms in the frosty air, and everything caputures the imagination, from the tall, stately buildings to the groves and ponds. There are also many more shrines and temples in the various sectors, added by successive shoguns and others. In later times, it would be the temples of the Zen and Nichiren sects that would remain central to the city's economy, into the twentieth century. In the early medieval period, however, it was above all the offices of the shogunal government that were fundamental to Kamakura's identity. It was the power of the warrior officials that attracted commerce, intellectual and otherwise.