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Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, Kamakura 2026: Free Entry, Gate 6:00–20:00, and the Three Buildings That Charge (¥200, ¥800, ¥1,000)

Updated 2026-10-20

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu charges nothing at the gate. The Kamakura City Tourist Association lists no fee for the grounds and gives the gate hours as 6:00 to 20:00, which is a longer day than any temple in the city keeps. The money is in three buildings inside: the shrine's own Treasure House (¥200, 9:00–16:00), the shrine's Tsurugaoka Museum (¥800 for the current exhibition, 10:00–16:30) and the city-run Kamakura Museum of National Treasures, the Kokuhokan (¥1,000 for its autumn show, 9:00–16:30), which reopens after building works on 24 October 2026. All three stop letting people in by 16:00, so the paid part of a visit is a daytime thing and the grounds after that are free and quiet. The shrine is 10 minutes on foot from the east exit of Kamakura Station. Every figure here is from the tourist association, the prefecture or the two museums' own pages, checked 2026-10-20.

Schematic map of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu from the east exit of Kamakura Station: Komachi-dori and Wakamiya-oji both reach the third torii in about 10 minutes. The grounds inside are free, open 6:00 to 20:00, with the Genpei Ponds, the stone steps and the main shrine. Three buildings charge: Tsurugaoka Museum 800 yen, 400 yen for children, 10:00 to 16:30, closed Mondays; Kokuhokan city museum 1,000 yen, 500 yen for children, 9:00 to 16:30, from 24 October 2026; Treasure House 200 yen, 100 yen for children, 9:00 to 16:00. Checked 2026-10-20.
The dashed box is the free part. Two of the three ticketed buildings sit beside the Genpei Ponds, before the steps; the Treasure House is up by the shrine.

What costs money, and what does not

Place Adult Child Hours Closed
Grounds, main shrine, Genpei Ponds free free gate 6:00–20:00 never
Treasure House (宝物殿) ¥200 ¥100 (elementary) 9:00–16:00 only for exhibition changes
Tsurugaoka Museum (鎌倉文華館 鶴岡ミュージアム) ¥800 ¥400 (elementary and junior high) 10:00–16:30, last entry 16:00 Mondays, 26 Nov 2026 (part), 28 Dec–5 Jan
Kamakura Museum of National Treasures (鎌倉国宝館, city) ¥1,000 ¥500 (elementary and junior high) 9:00–16:30, last entry 16:00 Mondays, 24 Nov 2026, 29 Dec–3 Jan; shut for works until 23 Oct 2026
Peony garden (神苑ぼたん庭園) separate fee 9:00–16:30, last entry 16:00 open only in the winter and spring peony seasons

Three things to read into that table:

My reading of the ¥0 at the gate: this is the city's central shrine, and the whole east side of Kamakura is laid out as its approach. A ticket booth at the torii would turn the town's main street into a queue. The shrine charges for what it keeps indoors, and leaves the stone steps to everyone.

The one clock that matters is 16:00

Hours board on a 6:00 to 20:00 line. Grounds 6:00 to 20:00, free. Treasure House 9:00 to 16:00, 200 yen. Tsurugaoka Museum 10:00 to 16:30 with last entry 16:00, 800 yen, closed Mondays. Kokuhokan city museum 9:00 to 16:30 with last entry 16:00, 1,000 yen, closed Mondays, reopens 24 October 2026. Peony garden 9:00 to 16:30 with last entry 16:00, winter and spring only. After 16:00 only the grounds are open. Checked 2026-10-20.
Five clocks, one cut-off. The Treasure House shuts at 16:00 and the two museums take their last visitor at 16:00, so a late afternoon is grounds only.

The gate hours, 6:00 to 20:00, have applied since 1 April 2024 "until further notice", in the association's words. In practice that means two kinds of visit:

Mondays need care. Both museums close on Monday, and when Monday is a public holiday they open and close on the next weekday instead. During the city museum's autumn exhibition that produces one odd date: it is open on Monday 23 November 2026 (a holiday) and closed on Tuesday 24 November. The Treasure House has no weekly closing day.

Two streets from the station, same ten minutes

From the east exit of Kamakura Station (JR Yokosuka Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line and the Enoden share the station) you can walk up either side of the same block:

Both take about 10 minutes to the torii, the association's figure for the shrine; the city gives 12 minutes to the Kokuhokan, which is the far side of the grounds. By bus, the city museum is 3 minutes from the Daigaku-mae stop (Keikyu Bus) or Kamakura-Hachimangu-mae (Enoden Bus). The shrine has paid parking, including for coaches; the city museum has none. Fares from each Tokyo station are in Tokyo to Kamakura by train.

Which of the three to pay for

Pay for one, not three, unless the Kamakura period is why you came.

  1. ¥200, the Treasure House. The cheap one, and the one that belongs to the shrine: festival palanquins, armour and craft pieces connected to Hachimangu, in a hall near the main shrine. It is the add-on I would make on any visit, because it costs less than a coffee and is open on Mondays.
  2. ¥800, the Tsurugaoka Museum. This autumn and winter the show is the shrine's own sacred treasures, with some pieces swapped partway through (the museum's partial changeover is 26 November). A disability handbook takes ¥100 off for the holder and one companion.
  3. ¥1,000, the Kokuhokan. The city museum, reopening on 24 October 2026 after five months of works with Zuisenji 700 Years, treasures of the Zuisenji temple and works linked to its founder Muso Soseki. Free for Kamakura residents, for students at Kamakura schools, and for a disability-handbook holder with one companion.

If I had to pick one of the two museums for a first visit, I would take the ¥800 show: it is about the place you are standing in. The ¥1,000 exhibition is for people who already know Zuisenji, which is a separate temple on the other side of town.

What the free part includes

The association's history page is the shortest version worth knowing. In 1063 Minamoto no Yoriyoshi enshrined a branch of Iwashimizu Hachimangu at Yuigahama, by the beach. In 1180 Minamoto no Yoritomo, about to found the shogunate, moved it to the present site, and after a fire in 1191 rebuilt it on the hill behind in roughly its present form. The shrine the city grew around is that 1191 layout: the two Genpei Ponds either side of the approach, the Great Stone Steps up to the main shrine, the Masako Stone named for Yoritomo's wife, and the yabusame riding ground where mounted archery is still held.

The great ginkgo beside the steps, the tree in every old photo, was blown down early on 10 March 2010. Saplings grew from its roots and a parent tree was replanted beside them; a section of the old trunk is kept in the museum's café and shop, where you can see it without an exhibition ticket. The prefecture suggests about an hour for the grounds. Allow another hour for each building you pay for.

Kamakura tours and passes

PR Affiliate links (disclosure): booking through them supports this site at no extra cost. The shrine sells no tickets online; the three buildings sell at their own doors.

Fitting it into a Kamakura day

The shrine is the natural first or last stop, because the station is at its feet. Coming from Kita-Kamakura's five temples you arrive at the back of the grounds and walk out through the torii to the station. Coming by the Enoden from Enoshima you arrive at the station and walk up. The Kamakura day trip itinerary puts it in the morning; after reading the hours above I would put it last on a short winter day, when the temples close at 16:00 or 16:30 and the gate here stays open to 20:00. Add the Treasure House, the Great Buddha and Hasedera for your group in the Kamakura temple entrance fees calculator. Hokokuji's bamboo garden is about 10 minutes by bus from the shrine; see Hokokuji bamboo temple.

Frequently asked questions

Is Tsurugaoka Hachimangu free?

Yes. The grounds, the main shrine and the ponds have no entrance fee. The Treasure House costs ¥200 (¥100 for elementary school children), and the two museums on the grounds charge by exhibition: ¥800 at the Tsurugaoka Museum and ¥1,000 at the city's Kokuhokan in autumn 2026.

What time does Tsurugaoka Hachimangu open and close?

The gate is open 6:00 to 20:00. The Treasure House is open 9:00 to 16:00, the Tsurugaoka Museum 10:00 to 16:30 (last entry 16:00) and the Kokuhokan 9:00 to 16:30 (last entry 16:00).

Do I need a ticket in advance?

No. Nothing at the shrine is sold online. The three buildings sell tickets at their own entrances, and the grounds have no gate check at all.

Is the Kamakura Museum of National Treasures open?

From 24 October 2026, yes. It closed on 19 May 2026 for building works and reopens with the special exhibition Zuisenji 700 Years, which runs to 6 December 2026. Adults pay ¥1,000, children ¥500.

How far is Tsurugaoka Hachimangu from Kamakura Station?

About 10 minutes on foot from the east exit, by either Komachi-dori or Wakamiya-oji. The city museum, on the far side of the grounds, is 12 minutes.

Is the peony garden open?

Only in the winter and spring peony seasons, 9:00 to 16:30 with last entry at 16:00, for a separate fee that the public listings do not print. Outside those seasons it is closed.

Official sources (checked 2026-10-20)

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