Last Updated: Dec 26, 2023

Enryaku-ji & Mt. Hiei

Oda Nobunaga’s Infamous Massacre

This story was originally published on donnykimball.com and has been syndicated here on Medium

“I am going to burn them with the flames of war and let the true Buddha be called forth from these ashes!”

— Oda Nobunaga

Imagine this. You’ve just consolidated control over most of Japan but there’s still a constant thorn in your side. Much to your chagrin, the warrior monks of Mt. Hiei continue to meddle in your affairs. Based in the mountaintop bastion of Enryaku-ji, this Buddhist collective has long held sway over the politics of Kyoto. In fact, many years ago, Emperor Shirakawa even went as far as lamenting that the only three phenomenon that he couldn’t control were the waters of the Kamo River, the roll of the dice and the monks of Mt. Hiei (talk about being influential).

The aforementioned scenario is exactly the predicament that the warlord Oda Nobunaga found himself in. Though he largely held dominion over Kyoto since the year 1568, the Buddhist citadel to the northeast on Mt. Hiei continued to pose a perplexing problem. The warrior monks arrogantly believed that their supreme religious morality allowed them to intervene in political affairs without fear of counter-pressure. Safe in their fortified temple complexes…