Tsutsui no Jōmyō Meishū (筒井浄妙明秀) was a warrior monk (''

sōhei were Buddhist warrior monks of both classical and feudal Japan. At certain points in history, they held considerable power, obliging the imperial and military governments to collaborate. The prominence of the ''sōhei'' rose in parallel w ...

'') from Mii-dera who fought alongside Minamoto no Yorimasa and his fellow monks at the Battle of Uji in 1180, defending the Byōdō-in and Prince Mochihito from the

Taira clan The was one of the four most important Japanese clans, clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period, Heian period of History of Japan, Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto clan, Minamoto, the Fujiwara clan, Fuji ...

. Later, in the same account, Gochi-in no Tajima is replaced on the bridge by his comrade, Tsutsui. Standing upon the broken bridge of Uji, Kyoto, Tsutsui fought off the Taira

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

with bow and arrow, '' naginata'', sword, and dagger. According to '' The Tale of the Heike'':

References

*Turnbull, Stephen. ''Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949–1603.'' Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsutsui, Jomyo Meishu Japanese warrior monks Buddhist clergy of the Heian period People of the Heian period