NOBUNAGA AND MONKS THE
ALTHOUGH NOBUNAGA BEHAVED AS A GENEROUS BENEFACTOR TO THE CHRISTIANS, HE WAGED WAR AGAINST BUDDHISTS WITH UNMITIGATED CRUELTY
By the 16th century, Japan's Buddhist warrior monks had amassed great wealth, influence and power. Chief among them were the Ikko-ikki, or ‘single minded’ sect.
Self-governing, the Ikko rejected any outside interference, even driving a constable out of the province of Kaga, taking it for themselves.
When the shogun called for an alliance to destroy Nobunaga in 1570, the Ikko-ikki rose up against him – dealing the warlord some shocking defeats. Presented with the gravest of threats, in October 1571, Nobunaga attacked the monastic towns and temples of Mount Hiei, burning everything to the ground and butchering and gunning down every soul in sight – monks, laymen, women and children alike.
At the troublesome Ikko temple of Nagashima, he first starved the 20,000 defenders into submission, and then barricaded and burned them to death. Finally after an 11-year siege, the longest in Japanese history, the Ikko’s fortress of Honganji surrendered – narrowly avoiding another wholesale massacre.
After defeating the Takeda clan, Nobunaga is said to have visited the temple that held Shingen’s remains and roasted the monks alive. He would later invite the moderate Jodo sect into his castle-town of Azuchi, where he rounded up and executed members of the historically militant Hokke sect. Though he planned to execute the monks of Koyosan temple for harbouring his former enemies, he later acquiesced.