Kiyomizu-dera

Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto, Japan, dedicated to Kannon.^[1] At the time of the Sengoku period, the temple was located on the city's outskirts, within the Hills of Meeting in the province of Yamashiro.

History[edit | edit source]

Kiyomizu-dera was founded in 778 by Enchin Shonin, a monk from Nara who was said to have received a vision telling him to construct the temple next to a spring.^[1]

In 1582, the samurai Ujimasa, who formerly served as a guard at Yamazaki Castle, took shelter at the temple to hide from the forces of Ise Sadaoki, who had usurped leadership of the Ise clan. Becoming a monk, he was visited by the Kakushiba ikki members Fujibayashi Naoe and Yasuke, who obtained his help to gain entry into Yamazaki Castle.^[2]

While there, Naoe and Yasuke also explored the temple and collected three lost pages scattered around its grounds. Naoe later climbed atop the pagoda south of the temple and surveyed the province.^[3]