Kochi Castle is a famous tourist attraction in Kochi Prefecture. You can see the entire city from its place on the hills. Few, however, know that during the Nanbokucho period, Divine Master Tenrai Hayashima’s ancestors, the Otakasa family, had their stronghold here.

The Otakasa were a powerful gozoku clan from Kochi City, Along with 14-century samurai such as Kusunoki Masashige and Nitta Yoshisada they fought for the southern side in the Nambokucho battles against the north with the seven-year-old titular head of the castle, Otakasa Matsuomaru, as leader. Matsuomaru died in battle at the age of 15. His remains are said to have vanished like sacred relics.

Otakasa Shrine stood in the current location of the Kochi Municipal Office. It was fused with Matsukuma Shrine in 1946, yet a memorial to Matsuomaru was put in place. Later generations of the Otakasa clan went on to defend the family name. During the Edo period the renowned nangaku scholar Otakasa Shizan made a major contribution to Edo period reforms as well as the construction of what is now Yushima Seido. He also gained the trust of the leader of the old Iwaki Province and exerted an influence on local politics. The Otakasa clan received instruction from the Murakami Genji clan in Taoist practices. Divine Master Tenrai Hayashima’s adopted family,? a branch of the Murakami Genji, has traditionally been the torchbearers of the science of ki medicine. Such historical reasons lie behind the choice of Iwaki City as the location of Nihon Dokan’s headquarters.