Two small Zen temples next to Kita-Kamakura station: Tokeiji, the old temple of refuge women, and Jochiji, with a moss garden; combined admission 500 ¥.
The Kita-Kamakura area concentrates the most contemplative and least crowded Zen temples in the whole city, and two of them, just minutes from the station, deserve a quiet visit. The Tokeiji temple, founded in 1285 by the widow of the regent Hojo Tokimune, was known for six centuries as the "divorce temple": women who took refuge here for three years could obtain legal separation from their husbands, at a time when only men could divorce. The temple has a small garden of plum and daffodil in spring and a museum of Kamakura-period objects (an extra 300 ¥). The Jochiji, founded in 1281 and fourth-ranked of the Gozan, has a moss garden and water-lily ponds of absolute stillness, with barely fifty tourists a day even in high season. Admission to each temple is 200 ¥. Hours: 8:30-16:00. Both are a two-minute walk from the west exit of Kita-Kamakura station. Ideal to visit before climbing the trail to Engaku-ji and continuing the route through Kita-Kamakura.
