Sagami Kokubunji Temple Ruins

The Sagami Kokubunji Temple Ruins, located in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture, are a designated National Historic Site preserving the remains of an 8th-century provincial temple founded during the Nara period. Emperor Shōmu ordered the construction of kokubunji temples across all provinces of Japan around 741 CE, intending them as centers of Buddhist state religion — Sagami Province's example being one of dozens in this nationwide network. The temple was destroyed and rebuilt multiple times over its long history, and much of its documentary record has been lost, lending the site an air of fragmented memory. A Kamakura-period temple bell (bonshō) surviving from a later reconstruction is designated an Important Cultural Property. Today the grounds function as an open archaeological park where exposed foundations and partial reconstructions trace the original layout, offering a quietly contemplative walk through layers of Japanese history.