Ozu's gravesite: how to get there

Yasujiro Ozu's gravesite in Kita-Kamakura (北鎌倉):
How to get there (Part One)

May 11, 2023: These pages have been updated with new photos of of the signs that have changed since I first wrote these directions 20 years ago. (Thank you to Dr. Thomas S. for sending them to me.)

From Tokyo, you need to catch the JR Yokosuka Line (横須賀線), which you can get from Tokyo (東京), Shimbashi (新橋), or Shinagawa (品川) stations. The trip will take just less than an hour. Make sure you catch a train that is going far enough. If the train is only going to Yokohama (横浜) or Ofuna (大船), that's not far enough. Look for trains with a destination of Kamakura (鎌倉), Zushi (逗子), Yokosuka (横須賀), or Kurihama (久里浜).

Platform sign at JR Shinagawa station, Tokyo

Get off the train at Kita-Kamakura station (北鎌倉駅), the sign of which looks like this:

Sign on platform of Kita-Kamakura station

Kita-Kamakura station, viewed from the southeast

When exiting, stay on the same side of the tracks as the train you just got off of. After you leave the station, you should see the following sign:

Sign pointing the way to Engakuji and other Kamakura temples

Walk straight in the direction the train was headed. We are going to Engaku Temple (円覚寺), which is the first on the above-pictured sign, and only 50 meters from the station. It will be the first temple you come to on your left.

Entrance to Engakuji Temple

Enter the temple at left. Admission is 300 yen for adults, and 100 yen for children. They have a leaflet in English about the temple.

When I first went to Engaku-ji to look for Ozu's grave, the only information I had was that the grave was somewhere on the grounds of Engaku-ji, an email from my wife with Ozu's name in kanji (Chinese characters), and the knowledge that Ozu's gravestone was inscribed with the Chinese character 無 (mu).

And yet I was able to find it, after about an hour of searching.

I'm a little worried that by publishing detailed instructions I could be taking the mystery and fun (not to mention eventual satisfaction) out of the challenge of finding Ozu's gravesite, and so therefore I've stopped here and am presenting you with a choice:

Stop here, and you know enough to find your way down to Kita Kamakura and to Engaku-ji, and you can take up at about the point I did, and continue the search on your own. Or, you can proceed to Part Two and receive fairly detailed instructions which should lead you to the gravesite. The choice is up to you.

If you do stop here, it would probably be helpful for you to copy down or print out from here Ozu's name in Chinese characters:

小津　安二郎

Continue to Part Two (if you so choose)

Yasujiro Ozu home

hmmn: musings from the far east(erwood)