Nioh 3: All Nurikabe locations and how to open them with gestures

Nioh 3’s Nurikabe yokai are essentially fake walls that will crush you if you’re not careful.

Nurikabe often hide priceless items behind them, or incredibly useful shortcuts that’ll see you fly through select missions and Crucibles. That makes them worth seeking out, especially since you can open them up reliably without ever having to get your weapons dirty. For all the information on how, and where to find them, read through our guide below.

How to open Nurikabe with gestures and emotes – Nioh 3

The easy and reliable answer to open Nurikabe is to fight them. Nurikabe are quite tough and pack a lot of health, but they can’t move, making them sitting targets. Fighting Nurikabe can be somewhat risky, especially if you’re not prepared for how they fight, so it’s a good thing that using an emote or gesture can take care of the problem.

Nioh 3’s gestures are colour-coded. When you bring up the gesture menu (R1+Options on a DualSense) you’ll immediately see that gestures are colour-coded blue, green, and red, which represent polite, neutral, and hostile gestures. Each Nurikabe will open to a certain type of gesture; you just have to deduce which type it is.

The easiest way to tell is to look for a red Revenant Grave. There should always be one of these near a Nurikabe, left by an NPC player (so you’ll even get one in offline single player), and it will tell you that they died to a Nurikabe for using an incorrect gesture type. One type of gesture will cause the Nurikabe to attack, another will have them frown at you, and the final one will have them open. As long as you know which gesture type to avoid via the grave, you can try the other two to get the Nurikabe to open.

Most Nurikabe simply hide a shortcut that allows you to skip a few enemy encounters in a linear mission, and if you approach the Nurikabe from behind, you can simply remove a Talisman that kills the Nurikabe instantly. Some Nurikabe lead to secret locations, though, making them well worth going back for if you see one you missed highlighted on your map.

All Nurikabe locations – Nioh 3

Most of the Nurikabe you’ll encounter are found within Crucibles and select missions, which you can return to and replay via Battle Scrolls at a Shrine. Opening all Nurikabe isn’t necessary for completion, but many Nurikabe do hide Hot Springs and Kodama behind them, making them borderline necessary for the Platinum trophy.

All 1572 CE – Warring States Nurikabe locations

There are just four Nurikabe to find in the Warring States period.

Mikatagahara

There are two Nurikabe to be found in Mikatagahara, and you’ll find the first only accessible via the A Fiery Invasion Battle Scroll, if you missed it on your first run through the mission.

The second is in Saigagake, which is most useful during the Tiger’s Curse mission, but you can come back for it later.

Iinoya

This might be the first Nurikabe you actually encounter, and it’s located inside Ryotan Temple.

Futamata

The final Nurikabe in the Warring States period is found in Futamata Castle.

All 1190 CE – Heian Nurikabe locations

There are five more Nurikabe to uncover in the Heian period.

Mount Kurama

This area’s POIs won’t appear on your map via your Exploration Level, so make sure you don’t miss this Nurikabe in Mount Kurama.

Funaokayama

This is in an enemy base found West of the Funaokayama Shrine and North of the Horinji Temple Bridge Shrine.

Sagano

If you want to find every Hot Spring, you’ll need to find the Nurikabe near Matsuo-taisha Shrine: Ascetic Cave.

Hachijo

You’ll pass this Nurikabe when heading to the Southern barrier in Hachijo. It’s located near Rajomon: Mibu Avenue Shrine, and yes, there’s a Hot Spring nearby.

Palace Grounds

The final Nurikabe – and yes, there’s a Hot Spring too – can be found in the Palace Grounds, but you’ll only be able to enter this area when it’s a Crucible during the Frozen City, Blazing Tree Battle Scroll.

All 1864 CE – Bakumatsu Nurikabe locations

There are just four Nurikabe to find in the Bakumatsu period.

Shimabara

The first area you visit, the Shimabara Pleasure District, hides a Nurikabe. Which shouldn’t be a surprise, as the buildings here are maze-like.

Shichijo

Hiding in the Southeastern corner of Shichijo, you’ll find another Nurikabe, near the Shichijo Abyss – Depths Shrine.

Sanjo

You’ll find a Nurikabe in Sanjo, inside Honnoji Temple, Northeast of the Honnoji Temple – Main Gate Shrine.

Kyoto Imperial Palace

Of course, there’s one final Nurikabe in the Kyoto Imperial Palace Crucible, and to get to this one (assuming you missed it the first time), you’ll need to undertake the Scion of the Gods Battle Scroll.

Look for Nioh 3 Guides? Read our detailed instructions for finding Kodama locations, Jizo statues, hot springs locations, Scampuss locations, and Nurikabe locations, plus breakdowns for best character creation codes, guardian spirits, blacksmith's chests, full area and missions list, and Solitary Blade Myth.