Nobunaga Prepares for War

The early morning of May 19th, Nobunaga received the news that Fort Marune and Fort Washizu were under attack by the Imagawa. Nobunaga knew he had to act fast since staying put at Kiyosu Castle was not an option. In Nobunaga's opinion, offensive is better than defense.






Then he sang and danced to "Atsumori"

A Man's life is fifty years
In the Universe what is but dream and illusion?
Is there any who is born and does not die?

Now, who played the hand drum? Nohime or one of Nobunaga's pages? To tell you the truth, it is still a mystery. Novels, movies, and other forms of entertainment have shown that Nohime played the hand drum. I do not know the answer, but the chances are high that she did.

Nobunaga with his armor on ate some rice gruel (okayu?) and then ordered the conch horn to be blown. Nobunaga left Kiyosu Castle with his horse "Tsukinowa" for glory with five of his pages. The five noted down in Ota Gyuichi's Shincho-Ko ki are: Iwamuro Nagato, Hasegawa Hashisuke, Sawaki Tohachi, Yamaguchi Hida, and Gato Yasaburo.

However, Oze Hoan's Shinchoki noted down the first five and more. He included Oda Miki no Jo, Kawajiri Hidetaka, Sasa Uchi Zo no suke (Sasa Narimasa), and Yanada Dewa no Kami (Masatsuna).

The one that stands out in Oze Hoan's version is Yanada Masatsuna. I do not believe he did not ride out with Nobunaga from the start, nor Sasa Narimasa. In this case, Oze Hoan fabricated the story a bit. The others joined Nobunaga later, but as for Yanada Masatsuna, a good chance he was scouting the countryside. For more information, see Owada Tetsuo, Okehazama no Tatakai, pp. 128-129.

Nobunaga no tame!