How to Find the Three Stolen Stout Pillars in Onimusha: Way of the Sword

• The three stolen Stout Pillars are found during the main quest “Careful What You Wish For” in East Kyoto.
• The missing brothers are the Seventh, Eldest (First), and Third Stout Pillars — taken from the Hachidai Rikison shrine by the Genma.
• The Seventh Pillar is on a rooftop — push a west gate open, clear the courtyard, then climb a ladder behind the building.
• The Eldest (First) Pillar is found by doubling back from the Seventh’s location, going through a room on the right, climbing to an attic, and crawling through to a collapsed roof area.
• The Third Pillar is in the southwest — enter through the southeast gate, go through the building, and smash a pot under a tree in the garden on the other side.
• Quest markers show the general area only — listen for each pillar’s voice to confirm you are in the right spot.
• After returning all three to the shrine, the quest leads to boss Rasho-gan, whose defeat unlocks the Oni Strength ability.

How to find the three stolen Stout Pillars in Onimusha: Way of the Sword is one of the most commonly searched questions during the “Careful What You Wish For” main quest. The in-game map gives you a rough zone for each pillar, but it does not show you exactly where inside that zone to look — and the pillars are hidden in spots that feel unintuitive until you know where to go. This guide covers every location in precise detail, in the order that makes the least backtracking.

This quest is also one of the most important in the early game because completing it unlocks the Oni Strength ability — needed to destroy Malice Barriers throughout Kyoto. Before you start this quest, it is worth understanding the Malice system fully, since Oni Strength is what finally lets you access all those sealed-off areas you have been walking past. Our Malice fog guide explains all five Malice types including Malice Barriers in full. And if you are preparing your loadout for the boss fight at the end of this quest, our charms guide covers the best setups for early-game boss encounters.

What Is the Careful What You Wish For Quest?

“Careful What You Wish For” is a main story quest available after completing “The Oni’s Apprentice.” It begins when you head to a marked location in East Kyoto and speak with a blind woman. The quest unfolds around the Hachidai Rikison shrine — a place where eight powerful stone idols called the Stout Pillars once stood as guardians. The Genma have used Malice to deceive villagers into stealing three of the brothers and hiding them across the area. Shizuka, the Oni spirit in Musashi’s gauntlet, can sense their presence but cannot pinpoint them precisely — which is why their booming voices calling out for help are your most reliable navigation aid once you are in the right zone.

Three of the eight brothers are missing: the Eldest (First), Third, and Seventh Stout Pillars. You need to find all three and return them to the shrine before the quest can proceed. After all three are returned, the quest leads directly into the boss fight with Rasho-gan.

Stout Pillar #1 — The Seventh Pillar (Northern Location)

Start with the northernmost quest marker on your map. This takes you to an enclosure area with two ladders visible on the map. The Seventh Pillar is the one most players find first, but its exact position still trips people up because it is on an elevated platform rather than at ground level where you might expect to find it.

first stout pillar description in onimusha wots

Step-by-Step — Seventh Pillar

1. Head to the northern quest marker. As you approach the enclosure, look for a gate on the west side of the area. This gate can be pushed open — it is not locked.
2. Push through the gate into a courtyard. You will encounter Genma here. Clear all enemies first before searching for the pillar — fighting while navigating is harder than clearing the area cleanly and then exploring.
3. Once the courtyard is clear, do not look for the pillar at ground level. Move around the left side of the building to reach the back.
4. At the back of the building, you will find a ladder going up. Climb it.
5. At the top of the ladder, walk along the wooden planks. The Seventh Stout Pillar is waiting at the end of this elevated section. Listen for its voice — a booming, pleading call that gets louder as you approach the right spot.
6. Collect the Seventh Pillar. Do not leave this area yet — the second pillar is accessed from nearby and you cannot get back in easily once you leave, because the gate back is locked from the outside.

Stout Pillar #2 — The Eldest Pillar (First Brother, Same Area)

This is the pillar that confuses players the most. After finding the Seventh Pillar on the roof, a quest marker points you toward the Eldest Pillar — but when you follow it, you find a door you cannot open from your current side. Do not waste time attacking the door or searching for a key. The solution is to stay within the same enclosure area and find an interior route.

Step-by-Step — Eldest (First) Pillar

1. After collecting the Seventh Pillar, climb back down from the elevated section.
2. Head back in the direction of the gate you originally entered through, but do not go out through the gate. Instead, look for a door on your left as you face back toward the entrance. Go through it.
3. Work your way through the building’s interior. It is a relatively short path — move through the rooms toward the back of the structure.
4. You will find a ladder inside one of the rear rooms. Climb it to reach an attic-like section above the main floor.
5. Move through the wooden planks of the attic. You will encounter a low-clearance opening — crawl through the debris and gap to continue.
6. As you progress through this section, you will hear the distinctive booming voice of another Stout Pillar calling out. This is the Eldest brother, confirming you are going the right way.
7. Continue through the area. You will encounter Genma guarding this location — defeat them and collect their souls before searching the remains of the structure.
8. The Eldest (First) Stout Pillar is found on the remains of what looks like a collapsed or fallen roof structure inside this interior section. It is sitting in the open once the Genma are dealt with.
9. After collecting the Eldest Pillar, a nearby door opens from the inside, letting you exit the building cleanly. You can now leave this whole enclosure area.

Stout Pillar #3 — The Third Pillar (Southwest Location)

The Third Pillar is in the southwest of East Kyoto. This one is the most straightforwardly hidden of the three — it is inside a pot in a garden — but getting to it requires navigating through a building to reach the garden on the other side. The tricky part is finding the right entrance, because the obvious northern gate to the area is locked and cannot be used.

Step-by-Step — Third (Third Brother) Pillar

1. Head to the southwest quest marker on your map.
2. When you arrive at the area, you will notice a locked gate to the north. Do not try to force this gate — there is no way through it from outside at this point.
3. Instead, look for the gate on the southeast side of the quest marker area. This is the correct entrance. Go through it.
4. Once inside, clear any Genma in the immediate area first.
5. Head to the far left (south) side of the area. Look for a door leading into the building on that southern edge. Enter it.
6. Work your way through the building. It is a short interior section that leads you through to the garden on the other side.
7. Exit through the far side of the building into the garden area. As you step into the garden, you will hear the Third Stout Pillar calling out for help — its voice tells you that you are in exactly the right place.
8. Look for a pot under a tree in the garden. The Third Stout Pillar is hidden inside the pot. Smash the pot to reveal and collect it.

Return All Three Pillars to the Hachidai Rikison Shrine

Once you have all three — Seventh, Eldest, and Third — return to the Hachidai Rikison shrine and place them back in their original positions. The quest marker guides you back. Interact with each pillar’s spot at the shrine to return it. When all three are back in place, the brothers can lend their power to Musashi and the quest moves forward into its final phase.

Returning all three pillars does not immediately end the quest. It sets up the confrontation with the real antagonist behind the shrine’s corruption — Rasho-gan, a powerful Genma boss who is the primary challenge of “Careful What You Wish For.”

Rasho-gan Boss Fight — After the Pillars

Once the pillars are returned, Musashi and Shizuka determine that Rasho-gan — a twisted demonic entity — is behind the Malice corrupting the area. The boss fight begins at the shrine.

Rasho-gan has two phases and some attacks that punish passive play. Key things to know:

• Basic combo: Three-hit blade strikes with a slight delay on the third hit. All three hits can be parried — parrying them stuns Rasho-gan briefly and opens a window for your own three-hit retaliation.
• Projectiles: Ranged attacks you can either dodge or deflect back. Deflecting them is the more efficient choice as it builds his stamina bar faster.
• Phase 2: Rasho-gan becomes more aggressive. Deflect is more reliable than parry for his multi-hit combos in Phase 2 — the timing is more forgiving and the stamina drain is consistent.
• Silk threads: In Phase 2, Rasho-gan uses threads to bind you from range. Cut the threads with a well-timed sword slash to break free, then counter during his recovery animation.

Focus on depleting his stamina bar through consistent deflects and parries. When the bar breaks, land a Break Issen for a significant damage chunk. Choose the purple soul option at the Break Issen if your Oni Awakening gauge is still building — the yellow, blue, and purple soul drops sustain you through Phase 2 more effectively than the burst damage option. For the full timing breakdown on deflects and Issen counters, our Issen, parry and deflect guide covers every mechanic.

Quest Reward — Oni Strength and Yorimasa’s Monument

Defeating Rasho-gan concludes “Careful What You Wish For.” The rewards are significant:

• Oni Strength ability — unlocked permanently. This lets Musashi break Malice Barriers (the solid red walls blocking sections of the map) by spending Oni Power when prompted. It also powers up his gauntlet strikes to destroy shielded enemy defences. Every Malice Barrier you walked past before this quest can now be cleared.
• Oni Stone #1 — a skill upgrade material awarded for completing the quest.
• Power Stone #4 — another upgrade material from completing this quest.
• Yorimasa’s Monument — the shop at the purified Yasui Konpiragu shrine becomes accessible. Yorimasa sells items for Red Souls, including crafting materials that expand in stock after each major story milestone. Do not ignore this shop — it is one of the best ongoing resource sources in the game. Check back after every main quest to see what new stock has appeared.

After completing “Careful What You Wish For,” go back through every area of Kyoto you have already explored and clear every Malice Barrier you marked. Some hide good loot. A few hide encounters you cannot find any other way. Work through them systematically.

Why Players Get Stuck on the Stout Pillars

A few things consistently trip people up in this quest:

• The Eldest Pillar’s locked door. Players see the quest marker pointing at a location with a door they cannot open from outside. The immediate instinct is to look for a key or another entrance. The actual solution is to stay inside the same enclosure area from the Seventh Pillar and find the interior route through the adjacent building. You never need to go outside and back in.
• The Third Pillar’s locked northern gate. The northern gate of the southwest area looks like the obvious entrance because the quest marker is nearby. It is locked from outside. The southeast gate is the real entrance — the map marker just does not make this obvious.
• The pot. Finding a pillar in a smashable pot under a tree is not what players expect. Most people scan the garden at eye level for an obvious statue. The pot blends into the environment. When you hear the pillar’s voice in the garden, look low and near the trees rather than scanning for a standing idol.
• Not listening to the voices. Each Stout Pillar calls out vocally as you approach its hiding spot. This is the game’s most reliable navigation aid in this quest. If the voice is getting louder, you are moving in the right direction. If it fades, back up and try a different path.

Collectibles and Items to Grab During This Quest

While working through the “Careful What You Wish For” zone, slow down and explore the buildings and courtyard areas beyond just the pillar objectives. This area of East Kyoto contains items, Genma Notes, and Chance Encounter triggers that are easy to miss if you rush straight between quest markers. Use Oni Vision to scan as you move — the collectible pulse highlights chests and shining items through walls.

Also note that Spirit Mirrors in this area are worth activating fully. Getting complete coverage of East Kyoto’s fast travel network before the later missions makes backtracking for collectibles significantly less painful. For a full guide on how Spirit Mirrors work and which ones to prioritise, our Spirit Mirrors guide covers every function and location.

What to Do Immediately After Completing This Quest

Once Oni Strength is unlocked and the quest is complete, a few immediate tasks are worth doing before moving to the next objective:

1. Clear every Malice Barrier you have seen. Go back to Kiyomizu-dera Temple first — there is a Malice Barrier blocking the route to the high platform there. That was the first one you encountered and it has been inaccessible since. Work through every area systematically and break every barrier you find.
2. Visit Yorimasa’s Monument. Buy anything useful from the newly unlocked shop. Check the stock — early on it has basic crafting materials. Come back after every major story mission as the inventory expands.
3. Upgrade your skills at the Spirit Mirror. You now have Oni Stone #1 and Power Stone #4 from this quest. Spend them wisely — prioritise the Oni Vision skills (Treasures, Treasures 2, Search Range) if you do not have them yet, and the Soul Absorption upgrades for better farming efficiency.
4. Check your charm loadout. Now that you have completed a major story beat, reassess whether the charms you are running still match what the game is demanding. The difficulty starts ramping after this quest. See our charms guide for the best setups going into the mid-game.

Where This Quest Fits in the Story

“Careful What You Wish For” is one of three main story quests available after “The Oni’s Apprentice.” It is not the only quest you can pursue at that stage — the other two run parallel — but it is arguably the most impactful to complete early because Oni Strength directly expands how much of Kyoto you can access. Unlocking Oni Strength before diving into exploration-heavy content means fewer dead ends and more complete area coverage on your first pass through each location.

The quest is also your first encounter with one of the game’s stronger boss designs. Rasho-gan is harder than Daidara and significantly more complex than the early Genma encounters. He is a genuine skill check that rewards consistent parry and deflect play. Players who struggled with Daidara but push through Rasho-gan typically come out the other side with much better combat instincts. For a broader view of how each boss connects to the game’s progression arc, our tips and tricks for beginners covers the full early-game structure.

Quick Location Reference

Pillar	Map Zone	Hiding Spot	How to Reach
Seventh Pillar	North East Kyoto	On elevated wooden planks behind a building	Push west gate open, clear courtyard, go around left of building, climb ladder at back
Eldest (First) Pillar	Same enclosure as Seventh	On collapsed roof inside building interior	From Seventh’s area, go through door on left, move through building, climb interior ladder, crawl through attic gap
Third Pillar	Southwest East Kyoto	Inside a pot under a tree in a garden	Enter southeast gate (not north), clear enemies, go south to building door, pass through building to garden, smash pot

Related Guides

• How to Get the Chest Behind the Locked Door in the Cave
• How to Beat Sasaki Ganryu
• Soul Farming Guide
• Trophy & Achievements Platinum Roadmap
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword Review

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is available on Steam (PC), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Visit the official Capcom Onimusha site for full game details. If you are on PC, our PC requirements guide has all system spec information.

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