Signore Part VI

I have not posted anything on The Signore (Azuchi Okanki Japanese title) in a long time. This post will describe Nobunaga's physical appearance. It does have some of Luis Frois's written account on Nobunaga, but it also has the opinion of another as well.

Kunio Tsuji (pp. 34-35, 47)

"Father Frois reached the far end of the room and wheeled around to face us, talking incessantly. The Owari Signore was about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years of age; he was tall, bony, and agile; his face was narrow and pale, he was clean-shaven. His voice was resonant, his pronunciation clear and precise. He wore his sword day and night, and always kept a lance close at hand. He was an enthusiastic horseman. his manner was harsh and his retainers trembled at his every word, yet he was extremely just by nature and could be moved by the least show of affection. He had almost no interest whatsoever in the opinions of others, seeming to have an almost religious faith in his own ideas and judgments. He was forever full of new schemes, but was far from being kind of man who, having once lighted on an idea, refuses forever after it. He would in fact discard former principles and opinions without a qualm--even those once regarded as gospel--and did so, indeed, with such regularity that those around him were sometimes inclined to think to think him merely capricious. Frois maintained, however, that if only one recognized the consistent personality underlying them, one could accept even these bewildering changes. The Signore's most trusted retainers, such as Lord Hashiba, had found favor precisely because they were able to comprehend this aspect of his temperament.

Directly after we had taken our seats, the sliding doors before us parted and a tall man entered surrounded by retainers. We knew without introduction that this was the Signore of Owari. He was very much as Father Frois had described him: the face long and quite pale and the features firm. His eyes were piercing, and his right brow twitched in a most disturbing fashion almost the whole time we were in his presence. Once inside the room, he made a sign to the attendants, who withdrew instantly, almost as if the wave of his arm had been a sorcerer's gesture and they had simply vanished into thin air."

Nobunaga was the tallest of the three unifiers at around 5'8''. He was also the most good-looking and attractive as well. I have mentioned this many times, he was not a man bound by tradition and did his way. He could care less about others think about him or his policies. He kept his captains on their toes and scared the living bee-jesus of his enemies. One of his most important qualities was that he was a self-made man.

Nobunaga no tame!