Ota Gyuichi's Shincho-Ko ki translated passage by Jeroen Lamers (Japonius Tyrannus, p. 32)."On the first [day] of the First Month, all of the warriors from Kyoto and its surrounding provinces came to Gifu to present themselves before Nobunaga. Nobunaga hosted a banquet where each quest drank three rounds of sake. After the Provincials ['takokushu', lit. 'men from other provinces'] had left, there was another feast, which only His Lordship's Horse Guards were allowed to attend. During this second banquet, some extraordinary and unprecedented things were presented as accompaniments to the sake. These were the heads of:
Item Asakura Sakyo no Daibu Yoshikage
Item Azai Shimosuke [Hisamasa]
Item Azai Bizen [Nagamasa]
Their heads had been taken in the previous year [1573] in the Northern Provinces. The banquet began when these heads, coated with gold paint and placed on square trays, were brought out with the sake. Everybody sang a song for His Lordship and had a merry time; Nobunaga himself was happy that everything was under control."
This is how you should celebrate the New Year.
Nobunaga no tame!
Tenka no tame!
9 comments:
Yeah, and where am I going to find three gold painted heads for my mantle? LOL
What a banquet.
Happy New Year.
Same here! When NHK aired the Taiga drama of Yamauchi Kazutoyo a few years ago, Kakegawa Castle had some items related to him. They did have model replica of the three skulls. Unfortunately, my photo turnout to be a bust.
あけまして おめでとう ございます! ことしも よろしく ございます! 月にはウサギの年の幸運を持っている ございます!
Thanks! I wish everybody a blessed Happy New Year! During the Christmas break, I have been translating some chapters of the Shincho-Ki ki and plan to post them as the year goes on.
Oooh, so this is where the legends of Nobunaga using the skulls as sake mugs came from~! Apparently they're just decoration, not actually drinking cups?
His retainers drank sake from the skulls or forced them to do it.
So the skulls WERE used as drinking vessels? Wow, I thought it was an exaggeration when I saw it in movies and stuff...
It has been well known. One reason is to keep everyone on their toes and it worked.
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