page_title: Yagura (tombs)
section_title: Notable yagura
hierarchical_section_title: Yagura (tombs) / Notable yagura
context_page_description: Yagura are artificial caves used during the Middle Ages in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, as tombs and cenotaphs. It is likely that they were used only as tombs in the beginning, and were later used as cenotaphs. The dead are mostly from the samurai class, but the names of priests and artisans have also been found. These tombs are extremely numerous in the hills surrounding Kamakura, and estimates of their number range from 1,500 to over 5,000. The total number will remain unknown, as many have been destroyed and others may not yet have been found.
  Yagura can be found either isolated, as in the case of the Harakiri Yagura, or in clusters of almost 200 caves. Groups of yagura are labeled with the suffix -gun. The most conveniently seen yagura for most tourists are those at Jufuku-ji, near Kamakura station. Its cemetery has many yagura, including those with the cenotaphs of Hōjō Masako and Minamoto no Sanetomo.
  True yagura can be found also in the Miura Peninsula, in the Izu Peninsula, and as far away as Awa Province.
context_section_description: These are some notable yagura in Kamakura:
  Otō no Kubo - One of the yagura supposed to be Hōjō Takatoki's grave.
  Karaito Yagura - Close to the Shakadō Pass. Due to the remains of a wooden door which are still visible today, legend says it was a prison.
  Jitsugetsu Yagura - Also close to the Shakadō Pass. The name comes from the two openings in the wall shaped like the sun and the moon.
  Kubi Yagura - Behind Zuisen-ji, this is another supposed grave of Hōjō Takatoki.
  Shakadō Yagura Group - This is supposed by tradition to be the burial place of those who died at Tōshō-ji at the fall of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333. It has been partly destroyed by urban development.
  Shutarugi Yagura - In the mountains near Nishi Mikado.
  Harakiri Yagura - Near the ruins of Tōshō-ji in Komachi 3-chōme. This is supposed to be the place where Hōjō Takatoki killed himself at the fall of the shogunate.
  Tahō-ji-ato Yagura - In the woods near Ōgigayatsu. Nearby there's a huge gorintō called kakukentō (覚賢塔).
  Urigayatsu Yagura (東瓜ヶ谷やぐら) - At the bottom of the Urigayatsu Valley.
  Higashi Sensui Yagura (東泉水やぐら) - In the Higashi Sensui valley.
  Hyakuhachi Yagura - Located near Kakuon-ji, it contains 177 yagura. It contains all known types of yagura.
  Jushi Yagura - In the Nishi Urigayatsu Valley. Contains the reliefs of 14 gorintō.
  Mandaladō Group -  Kamakura period yagura group located to the north of the Nagoe Pass and containing 104 graves. It used to be called Sarubatake Yagura (猿畠) but started to be called Mandaradō (まんだらどう) to distinguish it from the Sarubatake Yagura behind Hosshō-ji. The name indicates that in the area there used to be a temple dedicated to memorial services for the dead (a kuyōdo). Divided in three groups, it is built in a flat area carved up from an artificial cliff built to defend the Nagoe Pass. It contains both Kamakura and Muromachi period graves.
caption: The largest known yagura in Kamakura at Meigetsu-in. Still visible are some human figures on the walls.
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