Our journey at Kamakura started at this torii entrace gate towards Tsurugaoka Hachiman-Gu Shrine. Two Korean guardian dogs stand guard, one with it's mouth mouth as if it's pronouncing the letter あ (a) which is the first letter of the hiragana; and the other with it's mouth close as if pronouncing the letter ん(n) which is the last letter of the hiragana. It symbolize that at one end is the beginning, and the other is the ending, and we now exist in between these two. You can read more about it here.
Needless to say, the walk up towards the shrine is uphill, and the shrine looked magnificent sitting on the slope of a small hill. Bottom right of the photo shows a sacred ground where humans are not permitted to enter. It is believed that here is where the gods will land when they visit our realm.
Ref:
Tsurugaoka Hachiman-Gu Shrine 鶴岡八幡宮
Hiragana 平仮名
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