Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949–1603

Buddhism is popularly regarded in the West as being a very peaceful religion, but this was by no means the image presented by the famous warrior monks of medieval Japan. From the 10th century onwards the great monastic foundations of Nara and Mount Hiei maintained private armies that terrified the courtiers and citizens of the capital with their religious and military power. Armed with long naginata (glaives) in addition to bows and swords, they became involved in numerous conflicts from the 10th to the 14th centuries, cursing emperors and fighting samurai with equal enthusiasm.

The Sengoku Period (the Age of Warring States) of the 15th and 16th centuries was to see several developments in Japanese monk warfare. The most important trend was the reduction in influence of the old monk armies of Nara and Mount Hiei, and their replacement by new populist sects of Buddhism such as Nichiren-shu and Shinshu. The latter became so powerful that their armies even overthrew samurai daimyo (warlords) and set up independent ‘principalities’ of their own. Their ‘fortified cathedrals’ at Nagashima and Ishiyama Honganji rivalled any samurai castle, and Ishiyama Honganji withstood the longest siege in Japanese history. They were also at the forefront of technological development, and the monks of Negoroji were renowned for their skills with firearms