> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.jpnstudio.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Blood Ceilings of Kyoto: The Samurai Story Hidden Above Your Head - URL: https://www.jpnstudio.com/kyoto-blood-ceilings-fushimi-castle/ - Published: 2026-09-30T13:43:16.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-30T13:43:16.000Z - Description: In several Kyoto temples, faint handprints and footprints stain the ceiling boards. Discover the story of the blood ceilings, made from the floor of Fushimi Castle where loyal samurai made their last stand in 1600. - Author: Bjorn Brussee - Tags: History, Museums & Travel, #Import 2026-09-30 15:41 Most visitors to Kyoto's temples look down at the gardens or straight ahead at the altars. In a handful of temples, it is worth looking up. Above certain corridors and halls, the dark wooden ceiling boards carry faint reddish-brown stains in the grain: the shape of a hand, the sole of a foot, sometimes what looks like the outline of a body. These are the *chi-tenjō* (血天井), the "blood ceilings" of Kyoto. According to tradition, the boards were once the floor of Fushimi Castle, where in 1600 a small garrison of samurai loyal to Tokugawa Ieyasu held out against a vast army and died rather than surrender. More than four centuries later, their final moments are still said to be visible overhead. ## Kyoto's Blood Ceilings at a Glance - **Japanese name:** Chi-tenjō (血天井), literally "blood ceiling" - **Origin:** Floorboards from Fushimi Castle, stained during its fall in 1600 - **Event:** The Siege of Fushimi Castle, a prelude to the Battle of Sekigahara - **Defenders:** Around 1,800 to 2,000 men under Torii Mototada - **Attackers:** Roughly 40,000 troops of the Western Army - **Temples:** Yōgen-in, Genkō-an, Hōsen-in and Shōden-ji in Kyoto, and Kōshō-ji in Uji, among others - **Why ceilings:** To honor and console the dead, so that no one would ever walk on the boards again ## The Siege of Fushimi Castle In the summer of 1600, Japan stood on the edge of civil war. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the ruler who had unified the country, had died two years earlier, and the most powerful lord in the land, Tokugawa Ieyasu, was maneuvering to take control. Opposing him was a coalition led by Ishida Mitsunari, which would become known as the Western Army. Fushimi Castle, just south of Kyoto, was one of the most important fortresses in the region. It had been built by Hideyoshi and was now held by Ieyasu. When Ieyasu marched east that summer to deal with the Uesugi clan in the Aizu region, he left Fushimi in the hands of one of his oldest and most trusted retainers, Torii Mototada. Both men understood what this meant. If the Western Army rose against Ieyasu while he was away, Fushimi would be one of its first targets, and there would be no rescue. According to a famous account, the two old companions spent their last evening together drinking and talking, and Mototada insisted that Ieyasu take as many troops with him as possible, because every man would be needed for the battles ahead. ### Twelve Days Against Overwhelming Odds The attack came quickly. In late August 1600, a Western Army force of around 40,000 men surrounded the castle. Inside were only about 1,800 to 2,000 defenders. For roughly twelve days, from August 27 to September 8 by the modern calendar, Mototada's men held out. The castle only fell after the attackers found a way in from the inside: a defender was reportedly pressured into betraying the garrison, and a fire was set within the walls, allowing the besiegers to break through. Fighting continued until almost nothing was left of the garrison. Facing capture, Torii Mototada and the surviving defenders, often said to number around 380, took their own lives on the castle floor in the samurai tradition of seppuku. ### Why the Sacrifice Mattered The fall of Fushimi was a defeat, but it bought Ieyasu valuable time. The siege tied down a large part of the Western Army for nearly two weeks and gave Ieyasu the chance to gather his forces. Only weeks later, on October 21, 1600, he won the decisive Battle of Sekigahara, which opened the way to the Tokugawa shogunate and more than 250 years of Edo period peace. Torii Mototada became a symbol of absolute loyalty, a samurai who knowingly accepted a hopeless post so that his lord could win the war. ## From Castle Floor to Temple Ceiling According to tradition, the bodies of the fallen lay inside the castle for weeks, until after the Battle of Sekigahara. By the time they were recovered, the blood and fat had soaked deep into the wooden floor. No amount of scrubbing could remove the stains. Those floorboards could not simply be thrown away, nor could they be used again as floors. Instead, they were distributed to several temples in and around Kyoto, where they were installed as ceiling panels as an act of *kuyō*, the Buddhist practice of memorial prayer for the dead. ### Why Place Them Overhead? Placing the boards in the ceiling carried deep meaning: - **Respect for the dead:** No one would ever again walk on the place where the defenders died. - **Memorial and prayer:** Inside a temple, the boards became part of a space dedicated to consoling the spirits of the fallen. - **Lasting memory:** Built into the architecture, their story would be preserved for as long as the buildings stood. Instead of hiding a painful chapter of history, the temples made it part of their structure, turning a place of death into a place of remembrance. ## What Can You See on the Blood Ceilings? Today the ceiling boards are dark with age, and the stains have faded to a muted reddish-brown. Still, visitors can often make out handprints, footprints and shapes that look like parts of a body. At some temples, monks and guides point out particular marks, and local tradition even holds that the face and body of Torii Mototada himself can be seen in the grain. It is a quiet, sobering experience. The boards are not presented as a spectacle but as a memorial, and many visitors pause for a moment of silence beneath them. ## Where to See the Blood Ceilings in Kyoto Several temples are traditionally said to hold boards from Fushimi Castle. These are the best known. ### Yōgen-in (養源院) Located in Higashiyama, a short walk from Sanjūsangen-dō, Yōgen-in is the most famous blood ceiling temple. It was founded in 1594 by Yodo-dono, Hideyoshi's consort, in memory of her father, Azai Nagamasa. After a fire, it was rebuilt in 1621 by her younger sister Oeyo, the wife of the second Tokugawa shogun, Hidetada, and it became a memorial temple for the Tokugawa family. The blood ceiling runs along the corridors of the main hall. Yōgen-in is also home to celebrated paintings by Tawaraya Sōtatsu, including cedar doors decorated with white elephants and mythical lions, and sliding door panels of pine trees on gold leaf. ### Genkō-an (源光庵) Genkō-an sits in the quiet Takagamine district in northern Kyoto. The temple is best known for its two windows in the main hall: the round Window of Enlightenment (*satori no mado*) and the square Window of Delusion (*mayoi no mado*), which frame the garden and invite reflection on the path from suffering to awakening. Just above visitors' heads, the blood ceiling in the corridor of the main hall adds a sobering counterpoint to this peaceful view. ### Hōsen-in (宝泉院) In the mountain village of Ōhara, north of the city, Hōsen-in is famous for its "picture frame garden," where the pillars and lintels of the guest hall frame the view like a painting. Its centerpiece is a five-needle pine estimated to be around 700 years old. Hōsen-in also preserves a blood ceiling from Fushimi Castle. ### Shōden-ji (正伝寺) Shōden-ji, in the Nishigamo area of northern Kyoto, is a Rinzai Zen temple founded in the 13th century. Its abbot's hall has a remarkable history of its own: it is said to have originated at Hideyoshi's Jurakudai palace before becoming part of Fushimi Castle, and it was moved to Shōden-ji in 1653\. The hall's ceiling includes blood-stained boards from the siege. Its dry landscape garden of clipped azaleas, attributed to Kobori Enshū, borrows the view of Mount Hiei in the distance. ### Kōshō-ji (興聖寺), Uji Just outside Kyoto in Uji, Kōshō-ji traces its roots to Dōgen, the founder of Sōtō Zen, and was re-established at its current site in 1648\. Its main hall also has a blood ceiling. The temple is reached by the Kotozaka, a gently sloping approach famous for its autumn colors. ## Are the Stains Really Blood? It is impossible to confirm the history of every board. Some historians point out that accounts from the Western Army describe Fushimi Castle as burned during the siege, which raises questions about how the floorboards could have survived. Fushimi Castle was also rebuilt and later dismantled in the 1620s, and many of its buildings and materials were reused at temples across the region. What is certain is that these ceilings have been venerated for centuries as memorials to the defenders of Fushimi. Whether every mark is blood or not, the boards carry a powerful story about loyalty, sacrifice and how Japanese culture chooses to remember its dead. ## Tips for Visiting the Blood Ceilings - **Check opening days before you go.** Some of these temples have limited hours, seasonal openings or occasional closures. - **Photography is often not allowed** inside temple halls. Ask or look for signs before taking pictures. - **Combine your visit with nearby sights.** Yōgen-in pairs well with Sanjūsangen-dō, Genkō-an and Shōden-ji with a trip to northern Kyoto, and Hōsen-in with the other temples of Ōhara, such as Sanzen-in. - **Be respectful.** The blood ceilings are memorials. Speak quietly and take a moment to remember the people whose story they tell. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are the blood ceilings of Kyoto? The blood ceilings (chi-tenjō) are ceiling panels in several Kyoto temples made from floorboards of Fushimi Castle. According to tradition, the boards were stained with the blood of samurai who died defending the castle in 1600. ### Why are there blood-stained boards in Kyoto temple ceilings? After the siege, the stained floorboards were given to temples as memorials. Placing them in the ceiling honored the fallen, ensured that no one would walk on the place where they died and allowed the temples to pray for their spirits. ### Who was Torii Mototada? Torii Mototada was a senior retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1600 he defended Fushimi Castle with around 2,000 men against roughly 40,000 attackers, buying Ieyasu time before the Battle of Sekigahara. He is remembered in Japan as a symbol of loyalty. ### Which temples in Kyoto have blood ceilings? The best known are Yōgen-in in Higashiyama, Genkō-an in Takagamine, Hōsen-in in Ōhara and Shōden-ji in Nishigamo, along with Kōshō-ji in nearby Uji. ### Can you still see the blood stains today? Yes. Although faded and darkened with age, visitors can still make out handprints, footprints and outlines in the grain of the ceiling boards. ### Where was Fushimi Castle? Fushimi Castle stood in Fushimi, in the south of present-day Kyoto. The original castle was dismantled in the early 17th century. A modern replica castle now stands near the original site. --- *Fascinated by the hidden stories of Japanese history? Follow* [*@jpnstudio2023*](https://www.instagram.com/jpnstudio2023/?ref=jpnstudio.com) *on Instagram for daily discoveries from the world of Japanese art, history and culture.*