The Negoro-gumi

The fighting monks of Negoro-ji temple are quite famous in Japan as one of the religious warrior orders.  You can read a little about them here.

Last weekend at the local summer festival some re-enactors (presumably associated with the temple) were demonstrating arquebus fire.  I always manage to miss the demonstration, but for some reason this year I was lucky enough to be there on time with the flip camcorder on hand. 

Here is the video, and apologies for the shakiness:

Interestingly enough, while Japanese are not generally known for their height, the outfits made these chaps all look like quite big guys, and although there were only a few of them it was easy to imagine that a larger contingent, attired in this fashion, would appear quite fearsome.