Meigetsuin The Hydrangea Temple in Kita Kamakura

Meigetsuin temple is all that remains of the great temple Zenkoji, which fell into decline during the Edo period. Zenkoji had been established in 1268 by Hojo Tokimune (the Eighth Regent of the Kamakura bakufu, who was also the founder of Engakuji) to hold memorial services at his father s prayer hall. The site of Zenkoji had been used by Tokimune s father Tokiyori (the Fifth Regent) after he had stepped down from power at the age of 29 to devote himself to the priesthood under the leadership of Doryu Rankei, a Chinese Zen priest. Tokiyori had built a small prayer hall and named it Saimyoji. Meigetsuin came into being in 1383 during an expansion of Zenkoji temple. Intended as a subtemple, it was built by Norikata Uesugi (13351394), the Vice Governor of Kamakura. He appointed Shugon Misshitsu (d. 1390), a sixth generation disciple of Rankei, as the founding priest. Meigetsu means The full moon and was the family name of the Uesugi clan in Yamanouchi district of Kamakura. As noted above, Mege