In June 1582 Oda Nobunaga, the warlord who had ended a century of chaos, slept in a Kyoto temple with barely a hundred men. Before dawn one of his generals surrounded him with thirteen thousand soldiers. Twelve stops follow that night and what came after: the burning temple, the African samurai, the trapped son, the body that was never found, the traitor who reigned for thirteen days, the peasant who killed him, Hideyoshi's theatrical funeral, the mound of ears, the castle where the successor died, the Tokugawa palace and the shrine where Nobunaga ended up a god. Approximate audio duration: 20 minutes.
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Honno-ji: la madrugada en que traicionaron al hombre que iba a unificar Japón
En junio de 1582, Oda Nobunaga, el señor de la guerra que había terminado con un siglo de caos, durmió en un templo de Kioto con apenas un centenar de hombres. Antes del amanecer, uno de sus generales lo rodeó con trece mil soldados. Doce paradas siguen esa noche y lo que vino después: el templo en llamas, el samurái africano, el hijo atrapado, el cuerpo que nunca apareció, el traidor que reinó trece días, el campesino que lo mató, el funeral teatral de Hideyoshi, el monte de las orejas, el castillo donde murió el sucesor, el palacio de los Tokugawa y el santuario donde Nobunaga terminó convertido en dios. Duración aproximada de audio: 20 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~20 min of audio · 49.06 km on foot (~12 h 15 min walking) · about 12 h 45 min in total
Look on this corner of houses and offices for a small stone pillar with engraved characters. It marks the spot where Honno-ji temple stood in 1582. Almost no one stops.
Oda Nobunaga was forty-eight and on the verge of achieving what no one had managed in a century of civil wars: unifying Japan. He controlled Kyoto and the centre of the country. His enemies were falling one after another.
He was also feared. He had burned a whole mountain of temples along with their monks. He used firearms en masse. He respected no traditions. Some called him the demon king.
On 21 June 1582 Nobunaga stayed a…
2
The African Samurai
Very near here in 1582 stood a three-storey church with a Japanese roof: the Nanban-ji, the temple of the southern barbarians. That is what the Japanese called the Portuguese. A plaque marks the spot.
The Jesuits had reached Japan in 1549. Nobunaga protected them: he was interested in their news of the world, their weapons and, above all, their rivalry with the Buddhist monks he was fighting.
The priests watched Honno-ji burn from here. One of them, Luís Fróis, wrote one of the most detailed accounts of that night.
Among Nobunaga's men was one who looked like no other: Yasuke, an African wh…
3
The Trapped Heir
In this area, near Oike avenue, stood the Nijo Shin-gosho, a fortified residence. That night Oda Nobutada, Nobunaga's eldest son and heir, aged twenty-five, was sleeping here.
On hearing of the attack, Nobutada tried to go to his father's rescue. It was too late: Honno-ji was burning. He shut himself in this residence with a few hundred men.
He had the imperial prince who was also staying here sent out to save his life. Then, surrounded by thousands of Mitsuhide's soldiers, he fought until there was no way out. He took his own life as the building burned.
In a single morning Mitsuhide had e…
4
The Body That Never Appeared
You are at today's Honno-ji temple, on Teramachi street. It is not the site of the battle: the temple was rebuilt here in 1592 on Hideyoshi's orders when he reorganised Kyoto.
Look at the temple's name on the sign. The middle character, no, is written in an unusual way: a part that resembled fire was removed. The temple burned several times and the monks preferred not to tempt fate.
At the back of the precinct is a memorial tomb of Oda Nobunaga. It does not contain his body.
When Mitsuhide's troops entered the smoking ruins of Honno-ji, they searched for Nobunaga's corpse. They did not find…
5
The Monk's Ashes
You are in front of Amida-ji, a small, discreet temple in northern Kyoto. According to its tradition, the remains of Oda Nobunaga rest here.
The story the temple tells is this. Its founder, the monk Seigyoku, was close to the Oda family. On hearing of the attack, he ran to Honno-ji with his disciples.
He found the temple in flames. According to the account, some of Nobunaga's retainers were burning their lord's body so that it would not fall into enemy hands. Seigyoku gathered the remains, hid them in his robes and brought them here.
No one can verify it. But the temple keeps tombs of Nobun…
6
The Traitor's Thirteen Days
You are in Ogurusu, beside a small bamboo grove people call Akechi-yabu, Akechi's thicket. A sign explains it. It is a quiet, almost rural spot on the outskirts of Kyoto.
When Hideyoshi, who was fighting in the west, received news of Nobunaga's death, he made peace with his enemy in a single day and returned with his army at a speed that astonished everyone: some two hundred kilometres in ten days.
On 2 July 1582 he faced Mitsuhide at Yamazaki, south-west of Kyoto, beside Mount Tenno. Mitsuhide lost. His allies had not come.
That night Mitsuhide fled with a few men towards his castle on the…
7
The Tomb of the Head
Among the houses of this neighbourhood, near Sanjo avenue, there is a small shrine with a stone tablet. It is the kubizuka, the tomb of the head of Akechi Mitsuhide.
After his death, his head was brought to Hideyoshi and publicly displayed in Kyoto, alongside those of other rebels, as a warning. It was the custom. According to tradition, his remains ended up buried here.
The tablet is modest, but it has fresh flowers and offerings. Someone tends it.
For centuries Mitsuhide's reputation was that of the traitor par excellence. But in the lands he governed, in the Tamba and Fukuchiyama regions…
8
The Peasant Who Became a God and the Mound of Ears
You are in front of Toyokuni Shrine, dedicated to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Look at the Karamon gate, laden with gilded carvings: it is thought to have come from one of his castles.
Hideyoshi was the great winner of Honno-ji. He avenged Nobunaga in thirteen days and in the following months pushed aside his former lord's sons. By 1590 he had unified all of Japan. He was the son of a peasant without a surname. No one in Japanese history had risen so high from so low.
It was he who in 1582 organised a grand funeral for Nobunaga at Daitoku-ji temple. He carried a wooden statue of Nobunaga in processio…
9
The Castle Where the Successor Died
You are in front of the tower of Fushimi Momoyama Castle, on a wooded hill south of Kyoto. What you see is a 1964 concrete reconstruction. Hideyoshi's original castle was built from 1592 very close to here.
It was his retirement palace and his centre of power. From here he governed Japan and directed the war in Korea. The artistic style of the period, laden with gold and colour, is called Momoyama, after this hill.
Hideyoshi died in this castle in September 1598, after an illness. His son Hideyori was five. Before he died, he made his leading lords swear to protect him.
One of them was Toku…
10
The Floor That Sings
You are at Nijo Castle, built from 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who ended up with everything. It was his residence when he visited Kyoto, the emperor's city.
Go into the Ninomaru palace and walk along the corridors. Listen to the floor: each step produces a high-pitched squeak, like birdsong. It is called the nightingale floor.
For a long time it was said to be an alarm system to detect assassins entering at night. Some historians believe the sound is rather an effect of the nails and supports. But the idea fits the era: after Honno-ji, no lord could sleep soundly.
The rooms are decorat…
11
The Demon King Turned God
Climb the stone stairs to Kenkun Shrine on the slope of Funaoka hill. It is peaceful, surrounded by trees, with a view of the mountains of northern Kyoto. It is dedicated to Oda Nobunaga.
During the Tokugawa period Nobunaga had no great shrine of his own. The official god was Ieyasu, at Nikko.
Everything changed in 1869. The new Meiji government, which had just overthrown the Tokugawa, was looking for heroes of the past who had served the emperor. Nobunaga, who had restored the imperial palace and protected the court, was perfect. Emperor Meiji ordered a shrine built for him.
So the man man…
12
The Funeral Without a Body
You are in front of Soken-in, a sub-temple of the Daitoku-ji complex. Hideyoshi had it built in 1582 to pray for Nobunaga. It opens to the public only on special occasions.
This is where the great funeral Hideyoshi organised in October 1582 began. For days thousands of soldiers guarded the streets of Kyoto. Monks of every school prayed. A statue of Nobunaga was carved in fragrant wood, and in place of the missing body, the statue was burned.
Hideyoshi walked at the head of the procession, as son and heir. Nobunaga's real sons, by contrast, were sidelined.
This temple keeps a seated wooden s…
How long does the "Honno-ji: the Dawn They Betrayed the Man Who Was About to Unify Japan" audio tour take?
It has about 20 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 49.06 km walking route (~12 h 15 min on foot). Plan roughly 12 h 45 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Enemy Is at Honno-ji" (coordinates 35.0072, 135.7548). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Kyoto and pick "Honno-ji: the Dawn They Betrayed the Man Who Was About to Unify Japan". No account required to start.
