Siege of Negoro-ji

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Siege of Negoro-ji
partof=the Sengoku period


caption=The pagoda of Negoro-ji is all that survives of the buildings that were standing before the attack by Hideyoshi in 1585.
date=1585
place=Negoro-ji, Izumi Province, Japan
casus=
territory=
result=Toyotomi Hideyoshi victory; temple destroyed.
combatant1=Negoro-gumi, the warrior monks of Negoro-ji
combatant2=forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
commander1=Unknown
commander2=Toyotomi Hideyoshi
strength1=30,000-50,000
strength2=6,000
casualties1=
casualties2=

The nihongo|Siege of Negoro-ji|根来寺の戦い|Negoro-ji no Tatakai was commanded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a former vassal of Oda Nobunaga, who came to inherit his armies, his land, and his rivalry with the warrior monks of Japan when Nobunaga was killed in 1582. Thus, in a way this was the next in a series of many sieges that Oda Nobunaga's forces undertook in the 1580s, against the many fortresses of warrior monks. The Negoro-gumi, the warrior monks of Negoro-ji, were quite skilled in the use of firearms, and were devout followers of Shingi, a branch of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. They were allied with the Ikkō-ikki, and with Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Nobunaga's chief rivals. In particular, they attracted Hideyoshi's ire for their support of Tokugawa in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute the previous year.

After attacking a number of other warrior monk outposts in the area, Hideyoshi's force turned to the Negoro-ji, attacking it from two sides. By this time, many of the Negoro-gumi had already fled to Ōta Castle, home of the Saiga Ikki; the numbers present during the siege are unclear. The complex was set aflame, beginning with the residences of the priests, and Hideyoshi's samurai cut down monks as they escaped the blazing buildings.

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.
*Turnbull, Stephen (2003). 'Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949-1603'. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.