2010 Awards

2010 is almost over at a quick pace. Here are some of my favorites.

• Nobunaga Historian of the Year: Wataru Kajino
• Nobunaga Book of the Year: Jimoto no Karo ga Kataru Okehazama Kassen Shimatsuki by Wataru Kajino
  
• Non-Nobunaga Book of the Year: War and Faith Ikko Ikki in Late Muromachi Japan by Carol Richmond Tsang
• Film of the Year: NHK Taiga Furin Kazan

Watau Kajino's take on the Battle of Okehazama was simply brilliant and as for him winning Historian of the Year was easy. His book was on the local perspective on the battle. If there was any faults with his book, it had to be that there was not enough pages dedicated to Imagawa Yoshimoto's career and family history. Other than that, a book that is a must for the scholar who wants to study the Battle of Okehazama in full depth.

I would love to put David D. Neilson's paper Society at War in the mix, but left it out. I received his work late last month and still reading it at the moment. To tell you the truth, if I received it during the summer as planned, it would be a slam dunk all the way. His
paper is right now the 2011 front runner.




War and Faith was suggested by of the SA members earlier this year as a must buy. Tsang's work opened new doors to those who want to study the history of the Ikko Ikki during its zenith. Her chapter on Ieyasu and the Mikawa Ikko Ikki is the highlight in my opinion. The dispute was not over religious doctrine, but who will control Mikawa region and its revenues. She did a great job on explaining how the Ikko Ikki not only consisted of peasants, but townsman, merchants, and samurai as well. Tsang nailed it the Oda/Tokugawa partnership problems regarding to Ieyasu as well. I have to say, many thanks to the SA for recommending me this book.




As for the film, Furin Kazan. I received the NHK Taiga drama as a gift last Christmas and was hooked from the start to finish. Furin Kazan was exciting and it was one of the better ones I have seen of late. Runner-up was Katen no Shiro. It was a nice film, but at times slow. I plan to write a full report sometime next year.




Nobunaga no tame!