Structures
Fire has damaged many of the buildings at different times, and the dates given below refer to the building of the structures currently seen. From the entrance, the buildings of the temple rise up a wooded hillside, with the major buildings in a straight line in the Chinese style; the austere buildings and the trees blending in a satisfying overall composition. There are altogether 18 temples on the site. Among the buildings and other monuments are:
- the two-storied main gate, or Sanmon (山門?), with framed calligraphy by the Emperor Fushimi;
- a large modern Butsu-den (仏殿; main hall; 1964)
- Shari-den (舎利殿; reliquary hall), built in the sixteenth century in the style of the Chinese Song dynasty, which houses what is claimed to be a tooth of the Buddha;
- the thatched Butsunichi-an (仏日庵) which is the burial site of Hōjō Tokimune;
- Ōbai-in (黄梅院), a small thatched temple containing a statue of Kannon;
- Great Bell (大鐘, Ōgane?) (1301), at 2.5 metres tall the largest of all the many temple bells of Kamakura.
- grave of film director Yasujirō Ozu, marked mu (無, nothingness?)
Of these, the Shari-den and the Great Bell have been designated as National Treasures.
Read more about this topic: Engaku-ji
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