Tōdai-ji

The Tōdai-ji (東大寺, lit. 'Eastern Great Temple') is a Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan.

History

Upon arriving in Japan, the Chinese monk Jianzhen established an ordination platform at the temple to bestow the Bodhisattva Precepts onto the Japanese royal family. In his opinion, the Japanese monks until that point were not following an orthodox school of Buddhism, which in his eyes was Risshū.^[1]

In 1582, the Kakushiba ikki members Fujibayashi Naoe and Yasuke visited the temple upon the request of the abbot Hara Joken. While passing through an entrance, they found and met Joken near its eastern hall. Escorting them around the temple, Joken explained how Oda Nobunaga's war came upon them and how they fought the Matsunaga clan.^[2]

However, Joken excused himself for his other duties while Naoe and Yasuke sneaked around the temple per Kojiro's insistence. West of the temple, they came upon Joken's collection of oddities before being found by the abbot himself. Joken explained how he fought for Nobunaga and kept relics of his past while recollecting Nobunaga breaking his promise of giving Yamato to the monks.^[2]

Suddenly, the temple came under attack by Akiyama soldiers but Naoe and Yasuke swiftly defeated them, but only to realize that they stole a holy script meant for the peace talks between Tsutsui Junkei and Akiyama Ayako. Joken ordered one of his men to retrieve his blade to kill himself but Naoe and Yasuke told him to stop as they promised to retrieve the script. Understanding, Joken left to tell Junkei at Koriyama Castle of what occurred.^[2]

At some point, Naoe and Yasuke returned to the temple and recovered four lost pages scattered around Tōdai-ji's buildings. While there, Naoe climbed atop the southeastern pagoda and surveyed the land. She and Yasuke also financed the establishment of a kakurega west of the temple.^[3]