Kōtoku-in in the context of "Jōdo-shū"

Kamakura (鎌倉, Kamakura; [kamakɯɾa] ), officially Kamakura City (鎌倉市, Kamakura-shi), is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km over the total area of 39.67 km (15.32 sq mi). Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939.

Kamakura was Japan's de facto capital when it was the seat of the Kamakura shogunate from 1185 to 1333, established by Minamoto no Yoritomo. It was the first military government in Japan's history. After the downfall of the shogunate, Kamakura saw a temporary decline. However, during the Edo period, it regained popularity as a tourist destination among the townspeople of Edo. Despite suffering significant losses of historical and cultural assets due to the Great Kantō Earthquake in 1923, Kamakura continues to be one of the major tourist attractions in the Kanto region, known for its historical landmarks such as Tsurugaoka Hachimangū and the Great Buddha of Kamakura.

Buddhist temples or monasteries are (along with Shinto shrines) the most numerous, famous, and important religious buildings in Japan. The shogunates or leaders of Japan have made it a priority to update and rebuild Buddhist temples since the Momoyama period (late 16th century). The Japanese word for a Buddhist monastery is tera (寺) (kun reading), and the same kanji also has the pronunciation ji (on reading), so temple names frequently end in -dera (voiced) or -ji. Another ending, -in (院), is normally used to refer to minor temples. Examples of temple names that have these suffixes are Kiyomizu-dera, Enryaku-ji and Kōtoku-in.