The Meeting Part 2

A woodblock print of Nobunaga's procession to Shoutokiji Temple.

The story only gets better! Nobunaga crossed the Kiso and Hida River by boat with his troops. Slowly he finally arrived at Tonda. As for Shoutokuji itself, located in Ichinomiya, the temple was a proxy from the Honganji in Osaka. Nobunaga would soon find out that his father-in-law was spying on him. Why? The answer is simple. Saito Dosan only heard reports on Oda Nobunaga. He wanted to see for himself if Nobunaga was truly a blockhead. Dosan hid in a small shack to catch a glimpse, but he would soon be in awe! Nobunaga's attire was exactly Dosan was looking for. His hair was tied up in a chasen-maki style with a yellowish light green cord. The clothing was, well infamous! Tiger and leopard skin hakama, his shirt with one sleeve bare, a hemp cord (used for guns) as a bracelet, a flint bag, a rope around his waist as a sash, a beautifully decorated scabbard, and a few containers (hyootan, used for water or store other things). Now comes the awesome part. Nobunaga brought his spear and gunner group with him. What was so special about that? The spears were twice as long and he brought 500 gunners with him. Dosan had to be in complete shock! The father-in-law was supposed to teach the son-in-law a lesson. Not the other way around. The viper was outsmarted by the idiot! In my opinion, Dosan respected Nobunaga little by little after this incident. More zany thing came from the meeting. Again, it gets better and Nobunaga will prove to his father-in-law, he is no slouch

I did not include much detail about Nobunaga's attire in my book Okehazama 1560 because the book was about the battle. If one wanted to know how Nobunaga took over Mino in 1567, yes, by all means, the meeting should be in detail. I love Ota Gyuuichi's, Shinchoo Koo-ki, description of the meeting between the two. (Introduction, Chapter 10)

Myself as young Nobunaga at the Gifu City Museum of History



Nobunaga no Tame!