| Myōryū-ji (妙立寺), commonly known as Ninja-dera ("Ninja Temple"), is a Buddhist temple belonging to Nichiren sect located in the city of Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan. While not actually associated with ninjas, the temple earned its nickname because of its many deceptive defences. In 1585 Maeda Toshiie, the founding daimyō of Kaga Domain, built a chapel within Kanazawa Castle as a prayer place of Kaga Domain. In 1643, Maeda Toshitsune, the third daimyō of Kaga Domain, relocated the chapel to a new site in the Tera-machi district to the south of the castle, and ordered the construction of a full temple. The temple layout and location were part of the domain's defensive plans against a possible attack by the central government (Tokugawa shogunate). |
