Negoro-ji

Negoro-ji is a Buddhist temple in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Formerly located in the northwestern part of Kii Province, the temple grounds were designated a historical site and a place of scenic beauty in 2007.^[1]

History[edit | edit source]

In 1582, the Kakushiba ikki member and samurai Yasuke ventured towards the temple but heard a commotion outside the guard post. There, he saved a teppō vendor from two rogue samurai and learned that Asari Nobutane bought from him and frequented the bamboo grove at Negoro-ji. Entering the grounds, Yasuke made his way towards the bamboo grove and came across Nobutane, who killed a challenger with no difficulty.^[2]

Meeting with Nobutane, Yasuke asked for a duel, to which the former accepted. Fighting with their teppōs, Yasuke eventually bested Nobutane, who then imparted his piece of wisdom about choosing one's path. He also gifted Yasuke a teppō, the Dark Burst, and told him to give his regards to their mentor Kamiizumi Nobutsuna before leaving.^[2]

While at Negoro-ji, Yasuke and his fellow Kakushiba ikki member Fujibayashi Naoe infiltrated the temple's restricted grounds, bypassing the quarters of the Ikkō-ikki and retrieving the Ikkō-ikki kamon crest from one of the warehouses for Ōta Gyūichi.^[3] Going towards the main temple, Naoe and Yasuke also recovered five lost pages scattered around its grounds. Naoe then climbed atop its pagoda and surveyed the surroundings. Naoe and Yasuke also established a kakurega in the vicinity.^[4]