Nishi Mikado

A map of Kamakura

Nishi Mikado (西御門, Western Gate^?) is the name of a neighborhood (a chō (町^?)) in Kamakura, a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, about 50 km south-south-west of Tokyo. Nishi Mikado lies north-east of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū.

Etymology of the name

In 1180 the locality of Ōkura (大倉^?) in today's Nishi Mikado was chosen by Minamoto no Yoritomo as the seat of his government, which he called Ōkura Bakufu (大倉 or 大蔵幕府^?)^[1]. (46 years later, after Hōjō Masako's death, the government's headquarters were transferred to a location near Wakamiya Ōji and renamed Utsunomiya Zushi Bakufu (宇都宮辻子幕府^?))^[1]. The compound had four gates, and the western one gave its name to the area it faced. The area east of Egara Tenjinsha, now called Nikaidō (二階堂^?), used to be called Higashi Mikado, and the name is still sometimes used^[2]. Kita Mikado still exists as well but, like Higashi Mikado, it does not constitute a chō.

The Kamakurachō Seinendan stele in Nishi Mikado says^[3]:

Nishi Mikado is the area west of the Hokkedō. It was given this name because it faced the Ōkura Bakufu's western gate. In Nishi Mikado used to stand [temples called] Hōon-ji, Hojuin, Kōshō-ji, and Raikō-ji. Of them, only Raikō-ji still exists.

Points of interest

• Minamoto no Yoritomo's grave
• Raikō-ji
• The site of the Ōkura Bakufu
• The site of Hokkedō
• Egara Tenjinsha shrine

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Takahashi (2005:9-11)
2. ^ See the stele in Higashi Mikado (Japanese)
3. ^ Original Japanese text available here

References

• Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008) (in Japanese). Kamakura Kankō Bunka Kentei Kōshiki Tekisutobukku. Kamakura: Kamakura Shunshūsha. ISBN 978-4-7740-0386-3. 
• Shin'ichirō Takahashi (2005) (in Japanese). Buke no koto, Kamakura. Tokyo: Yamakawa Shuppansha. ISBN 4-634-54210-2. 
• Kamakura Citizen's Net. "Nishi Mikado". http://www.kcn-net.org/e_kama_history/komachi_yukinoshita/nishimikado.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-26. 

Coordinates: 35°19′42.82″N 139°33′35.38″E / 35.3285611°N 139.5598278°E / 35.3285611; 139.5598278