Database: Warrior Monks (Sohei)

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In ancient Japan, the main sources of revenue for Buddhist monasteries, of which there were many, relied heavily on estates (shōen) where peasants worked, and the various tolls placed on the roads. To protect these domains from powerful and greedy neighbors, early Heian period monasteries called on the men-at-arms employed by the estates to defend them. These warriors were tonsured and considered part of the monastery staff. Their role was to deter anyone hostile to the monks by their sheer presence and, if necessary, make the peasants pay their shares. They also defended the domain from common brigands and used their weapons (typically fauchards) to pacify crowds of monks who would gather to protest measures taken by the central authority that they considered unfair. That is how the great monasteries of central Japan, such as Tōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji in Nara, Enryaku-ji near Kyoto, the headquarters of the Tendai School, Mount Kōya, and the headquarters of the Shingon School, formed powerful armies of warrior monks capable of facing the lords of the Middle Ages. These warrior monks were dressed in long robes with stoles covering their faces, giving them a fearsome appearance.

In pursuing unification, Oda Nobunaga destroyed the private military organizations established by the monasteries. In 1571, he attacked and burned Enryaku-ji to the ground, destroying their military might. Hideyoshi did the same to the warrior monks of Negoro-ji in 1585. By the 17th century, the Tokugawa clan had completed the disarmament of the monasteries.