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are artificial caves used during the Middle Ages in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, as tombs and cenotaphs.〔Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo, (2008, 35–38)〕〔Kawano (2005: 171)〕 It is likely that they were used only as tombs in the beginning, and were later used as cenotaphs.〔 The dead are mostly from the samurai class, but the names of priests and artisans have also been found.〔Kawano (2005: 173)〕 These tombs are extremely numerous in the hills surrounding Kamakura, and estimates of their number range from 1,500 to over 5,000. The total number will remain unknown, as many have been destroyed and others may not yet have been found.〔 ''Yagura'' can be found either isolated, as in the case of the ''Harakiri Yagura'', or in clusters of almost 200 caves.〔A Guide to Kamakura, ''Terminology''〕 Groups of yagura are labeled with the suffix . The most conveniently seen ''yagura'' for most tourists are those at Jufuku-ji, near Kamakura station. Its cemetery has many yagura, including those with the cenotaphs of Hōjō Masako and Minamoto no Sanetomo.〔 True ''yagura'' can be found also in the Miura Peninsula, in the Izu Peninsula, and as far away as Awa Province (Chiba).〔 == History == There is a lack of solid documentary or archeological evidence regarding exactly when or why the ''yagura'' system was adopted. It is generally believed that tombs were dug into the soft rock of the hills around the city because of lack of space in the valley below.〔Kusumoto (2002: 148–149)〕 The only way to date a ''yagura'' is through the dates carved on a ''gorintō'' or stele that it may contain.〔Kawano (2005: 172)〕 On this basis, the oldest was found near the Asahina Pass and dated to between 1260 and 1270.〔 It was previously thought that an ambiguously titled law that forbade cemeteries in towns (the ) referred to Kamakura, and therefore was the origin of the custom. It is now believed that the law was promulgated for the city of Fuchu, in Bungo Province of Kyushu, by the Ōtomo clan.〔 However, some historians think the Ōtomo must have used a Kamakura shogunate law as a model.〔 The custom continued after the demise of the shogunate and well into the Ashikaga period, until the middle of the 15th century, after which it declined.〔 The ''yagura'' of the time give some indication of the decline of the custom: some have been converted to storehouses, others served as a convenient grave for inhumation, and thus were filled.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Yagura (tombs)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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