Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine

One of Kamakura's most unusual sites, this Shinto shrine is tucked inside a cave in the forested hills north-west of the city centre. You enter through a natural rock tunnel, emerging into a small enclosed valley where the shrine buildings cluster around a cold-water spring. Visitors wash coins and notes in bamboo baskets under the spring water, then spend the money in hope of financial fortune.

The cave setting, with smoke from incense drifting in the confined space, gives the shrine an otherworldly character unlike any other in Kamakura. The approach path is a pleasant 20-minute walk from Kamakura Station. Free admission.

things to do sight
A story
The shrine's name means 'coin-washing Benten' — the goddess Benten is enshrined here because legend says that money washed in the spring water and then spent will return to you multiplied. Whether it works or not is between you and the deity, but the practice has been popular since the Kamakura period.