Ryūjin, literally translated as “Dragon God,” is one of the major deities in Japanese mythology. An embodiment of the forces of nature, the dragon represents the sun, the sky, the element of water, disasters, fortune, and power. His worship stems from ancient animism and continues to be popular across Japan, with hundreds of Shintō shrines dedicated to him. Among those, Ryūkō-Myōjin Shrine in the Nishi-Kamakura neighborhood is a rare variant, being the only shrine of Gozūryū-Ōkami, the Five-Headed Dragon God. According to the legend, Gozūryū-Ōkami once dwelled in a great…
