The sotoba is located at Shogakuji Temple Sukaguchi (Shinkawa Town, Aichi Prefecture). I was finally able to take a photo of the area last year. The next day after the battle, Nobunaga held a very rare head viewing ceremony at Kiyosu Castle. Yoshimoto's head was in Nobunaga's possession at last.
The man who was responsible for bringing Yoshimoto's head back to Sunpu was Okabe Motonobu. He was the man in charge of Narumi Castle during the battle. Along the way, Motonobu attacked Kariya Castle. Mizuno Nobuchika was the lord of the castle. It was a lost cause for the Mizuno as Nobuchika was killed.
Why did Okabe Motonobu attacked Kariya Castle? One was to make up for the Okehazama debacle. The reason could be the Mizuno were an ally of the Oda. Tokugawa Ieyasu's mother, Odai, came from the Mizuno family. Yoshimoto's son, Ujizane was certainly happy about Okabe Motonobu's success.
When news finally hit back home in Sunpu, Yoshimoto's mother Jukeini and Ujizane had to be in complete shock. Sengoku Japan was changed for good and a star was born, Nobunaga! As for the Imagawa house, they never fully recovered from Yoshimoto's death.
Nobunaga no tame!
2 comments:
That is interesting that Nobunaga built a sotoba for Yoshimoto. I had not thought a victor would do that for a vanquished enemy but then again, it does seem like something that Japanese warlords would do. I believe the samurai did honor their defeated foes.
How I found out about the sotoba was in Denning's Hideyoshi book. Then Owada Tetsuo's Okehazama and Imagawa Yoshimoto book. Then you have the ultimate primary source, the Shincho-ko ki.
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