Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine Audio Guide

Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine

   Welcome to one of the most unusual shrines in Japan, a place where the traditional offering is not a coin tossed into a box but a coin given a wash. Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine, known locally as 銭洗弁天 宇賀福神社, sits in the Sasuke district of Kamakura, in a hollow in the hills northwest of the heart of town. The setting is part of the charm. The shrine lies at the very end of Sasukegayatsu, a valley closed in on three sides by ridges. Since long ago people called it a hidden village, and they said it was where the gods of good fortune lived. When you arrive, you walk up a slope to a tunnel cut by hand through the cliff, and the shrine gate stands right there in the rock. On this walk we will follow the legend of a shogun's dream, a spring flowing out of a cave, and the ritual that makes visitors rinse their money. From Kamakura Station's west exit it is a walk of roughly 20 to 25 minutes, so settle in and let's begin.

2. 02

   A Shogun's Dream at Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine

   Every legend needs a beginning, and this one starts with a dream. The tale is set at the end of the Heian period, when Kamakura was troubled by disorder and disasters. In the year 1185, the first Kamakura shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo, is said to have received a message in his sleep from the deity Ugafuku-jin. The story gives the timing with great precision. The dream came in a snake year, in the snake month, on the snake day, at the snake hour. The deity told him to honor the gods and buddhas with the water that wells up in this place, and promised that peace would come to the land. Yoritomo searched, found a spring in the rock wall of Sasukegayatsu, hollowed out a cave and built a shrine to enshrine the deity. That is the origin story told for this shrine, and it is a legend, not a documented event. The deity itself is striking. Ugafuku-jin is a water god with a human head and the body of a snake, which fits a shrine built around a spring. Some versions add that Yoritomo prayed for relief for the poor, and that the turmoil then calmed.

3. 03

   How Coin Washing Began at Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine

   So how did a spring turn into a place for washing money? The tradition is traced to Hojo Tokiyori, the fifth regent of the Kamakura shogunate. In 1257, another snake year, he is said to have washed coins in the sacred spring and prayed for the prosperity of his family. His prayer was believed to be granted, and that is remembered as the start of coin washing here. The belief that grew from it is simple and a little irresistible: money washed in this water will multiply and come back to you. Some visitors take a gentler reading, which is that the blessing arrives when you spend the washed money on something truly meaningful, and that the ritual is a prompt to ask yourself what a good use of money really is. The water is called Zeniarai Mizu, which means coin-washing water. It is counted among the Five Famous Waters of Kamakura, a group that also includes Kajiwara Tachiarai-no-mizu, Nichiren Koi-mizu, Furo-fu and Kanro-sui. The spring rises inside the cave at the back of the shrine.

4. 04

   Tunnel, Cave and Ritual at Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine

   Now let's walk it. The route climbs a slope to a tunnel carved into the cliff, and the shrine gate stands in that rock opening. Beyond it you pass a row of gates, and then you reach the shrine office. This is where you ask for a strainer, a basket that holds your coins as they are rinsed. The spring is in the rear hall inside the cave. You put your money in the strainer, scoop up the water with a ladle and pour it over the coins. Afterward, you wipe the money dry and put it back in your wallet. Take your time here, because the cave setting, with the mountains rising around the hollow, gives the whole ritual a hushed, sacred feel. The shrine's own story has a modern chapter too. It began as a subsidiary shrine of Yasaka Shrine in Ogigayatsu, and in 1970 it became independent and took the name Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine. Since the Meiji era, the deity Benzaiten has been identified with Ichikishimahime-no-mikoto, one of the three goddesses of Munakata.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off at Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine

   As you leave the hollow, notice how quickly the world of Kamakura's streets returns once you pass back through the tunnel. The walk back to Kamakura Station takes about 20 to 25 minutes, with old-style cafés and wagashi sweet shops along the way. If you prefer the bus, you can get off at the Homukyoku-mae stop and walk about 11 minutes. Here is something to carry with you. The story of Yoritomo's dream is legend, while the coin washing of Hojo Tokiyori is the tradition that gave the shrine its famous nickname. Both point back to one thing, the spring, which was there before the shrine had its name. On your way down, you might wonder what you would do with your freshly washed coins, and which of the other four famous waters of Kamakura you would like to find next.