Ryuko-ji — Where an Execution Ground Became a Temple

Just past the town of Koshigoe, where the Enoden tracks run along the street itself, stands Ryuko-ji. In the Kamakura period, this area was called Tatsunokuchi, and it was the site of the shogunate's execution ground. In the autumn of 1271, the monk Nichiren, who had criticized the shogunate, was dragged from Kamakura along the coastal road by night and brought to this execution ground. At the very moment he was about to be beheaded, it is said, something like a glowing ball flew in from the direction of Enoshima, the officials were blinded, and the execution was called off. This is known as the Tatsunokuchi Persecution. Nichiren was afterward exiled to the island of Sado. At the place where he was to have been executed, people devoted to Nichiren later founded a temple. A place for taking lives became a place for passing on the story of a life that was spared. That is how an execution ground became a temple. Every autumn, a memorial service recalls the night of the persecution, and many people walk the roads at night to gather at this temple. On high ground at the back of the temple stands a wooden five-story pagoda, built at the end of the Meiji era. Over the hill behind the temple lies another story. According to legend, it is the Five-Headed Dragon of the Enoshima origin tale, transformed into a mountain so that it could watch over the island where the heavenly maiden dwells. The very name Tatsunokuchi, the Dragon's Mouth, is said to come from this spot, where the dragon's mouth would be. From the high ground, Enoshima can be seen floating on the sea beyond the rooftops. From the temple, the Enoden tracks run through the town of Koshigoe toward Kamakura, and the road through Katase leads on to the bridge that crosses to Enoshima.