Apparently one of the more popular shrines on the Kamakura tourist map, Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine (銭洗弁財天宇賀福神社) is in a rather unique location – it is nestled deep in a mountain completely surrounded by rocks, so it is totally invisible from the outside.
The only way to reach it till the mid 20th century is via a rather steep hiking trail, but they have now cut a tunnel through the solid rock and placed a torii gate outside.
Inside, the main attraction seems to be the practice of washing one’s money (coins, preferably) in the waters of a stream inside a cave. Here is the entrace to the cave.
But before that, we had to purify our hands in the water house.
Inside the cave, they have helpfully provided facilities for washing coins.
There’s also some interesting cloth decorations.
This shrine is a curious mixture of Shinto and Buddhism – even the object of worship, a stone snake with a human head, is a merger of Ugafukujin (the god of waters) and Benzaiten (the Buddhist goddess Saraswati).
The various buildings here are all tiny, and built at different levels due to the uneven terrain.
For some reasons, statues of lion-like creatures are quite prominent here.
The spring running out of the cave into a pond full of koi carp.
More stone sculptures and a Torii gate.
More good wishes notice boards and fortune hangers.
Outside the shrine we encountered a very small farm next to some houses.
On our way back from the shrine, we met a woman walking an Akita dog. Since this is the first time I have seen an Akita, I asked the woman if I could pat her dog, and she said yes. I think the dog’s name is “Ged”, or or is “Gan”?
Full set of photos:
