2010 Highlights

2010 is a very special year for me. 2010 is the 450th anniversary of the Battle of Okehazama and all the hard work I put into the book, research, time, and money is slowly starting to pay off. Sure, I made some mistakes, but that is part of the job. A friend from the SA told me once, "Good things happen for those who wait." The quote is true and will be always be true.
This is the interview I had with my good friend Mr. Yukio Kajino at the Arimatsu Okehazama Battlefield. Mrs. Yuko Hiwada of the Chunichi Shinbum Midori-ku Home Service wrote the article and took the photograph of me and Mr. Kajino. To tell you the truth, I was very surprised when Mr. Kajino told me that the local paper will be there at the battlefield to hold an interview with me.
Me, Yuko Hiwada, and Yukio Kajino.

The personal walking tour with Mr. Kajino was memorable and learned a lot from the local geography around the battlefield. His tour and the other landmarks that he showed me will definitely help when I add more data to my book in a couple of years.

During the all day tour I had with Mr. Kajino, I was able to finally visit Sogenji Temple where the priest Kaioh buried the Okehazama battle dead. A nice quiet place and the family who lives there were very nice and they enjoyed our company. At the time I was there, construction was taking place, but still a must see if you are a serious Okehazama scholar. we were able to visit other places such as Chofukuji Temple (a first for me) and the two heron landmark. To tell you the truth, I spent much time at the Toyoake Okehazama Battlefield than the Arimatsu battlefield that the personal tour was a rare treat.

If there one drawback to the trip, it was not able to meet Mr. Yukio Kajino's father, Wataru. Wataru Kajino wrote one of the best books on the Battle of Okehazama from a local perspective Jimoto no Karo ga Kataru Okehazama Kassen Shimatsuki. Even though I was not able to meet Wataru Kajino, he did sign his book for me along with the Rekishi Kaido magazine as well.

Another highlight I was able to visit Sokenin Temple in Kyoto. Sokenin is a subtemple of Daitokuji and it is only open during the fall. I was able to take photos of the graves of the following, Nobunaga, his sons, Nohime, and Onabe no kata. The one I was after was Onabe no kata's grave (one of Nobunaga's concubines) since the photo I took a few years ago did not turn out so well. The photo turned out well this time and plan to post it next year. As for Sokenin Temple, I plan to write in great depth next year since gathering more photos and data. There were many more memorable moments I had Japan while doing my Nobunaga and Okehazama research. More is coming along the way for sure.

Tenka no tame!