Random News

There has been more discoveries of late at the Gifu Castle Nobunaga Mansion excavation work of late. Here is a link to the site (Link is in Japanese):

http://www.nobunaga-kyokan.jp/blog/archives/2012/11/post_116.html

We are learning something new on a daily basis on what Nobunaga's mansion looked like while living in Gifu.  With his mansion looked very similar to Kyoto's Kinkakuji and more gardens and the like discovered, it seems that his mansion was simply awesome during its day.

Photo above is Nobunaga's Mansion Ruins at Gifu Castle Park.  Well worth the time to visit.

Tenka no tame!

Nobunaga and Kyoto

When Nobunaga made his visit to Kyoto in 1559 to meet with shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru.  During this trip he made visits to Nara and Sakai.  However, when Nobunaga became the most feared man in Japan, he headed back to Kyoto in 1568 along with soon to be shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki.  Nobunaga's Kyoto lodging was at Toji (picture above).  During his long military career, Nobunaga lodged at various temples or mansions in Kyoto.   There are two valuable resources that includes the Uesama's Kyoto lodgings, the Shincho-Ko ki and Kawauchi Masayoshi's book Nobunaga ga Mita Sengoku Kyoto.

Kawauchi on page 159 has a list on where and when Nobunaga lodged at Kyoto.  He ends up using the Shincho-Ko ki as the main source.  Here is a list on where Nobunaga stayed and how many times.

• Toji-1
• Roan in Upper Kyoto-1
• Mushannokoji in Upper Kyoto (Nobunaga never got to use this facility due to hostilities between him and Yoshiaki.  Yoshiaki gave orders to destroy it and quality of lumber was taken by all who was able to attain it.)
• Myokakuji-16
• Shokokuji-3
• Honnoji-5
• Nijo-10

If anything that stands out is that Nobunaga lodged more times at Myokakuji than any other place in Kyoto.  Honnoji would later be his pied-a-terre.

Nobunaga no tame!

Odaka no michi

While I was in Japan last month, I was able to visit the Okehazama battlefield again to do more research.  This photo here is the Odaka no michi which Matsudaira Motoyasu (Tokugawa Ieyasu) used this road to deliver supplies to Odaka Castle.  The road is old, small, and narrow.  In fact, the Okehazama Research center is on the left side of the road and Mr. Okehazama's house is on the right.  You can feel like you are in the footsteps of Matsudaira Motoyasu delivering supplies to Odaka.  This was a rare treat.  I always learn something new while visiting the Okehazama battlefield no matter how many times I have been there.

Later, I was able to have a long chat with Mr. Okehazama, Yukio Kajino, and his son Akitsugu.  Various topics discussed were tactics, both the Arimatsu and Toyoake battlefields, The Men of the Fields, Ota Gyuichi and Oze Hoan's biographies on Nobunaga, and how the Battle of Okehazama changed Sengoku Japan forever.  In addition to visiting the Okehazama battlefied, we made a brief stop at the Fort Muraki ruins where Nobunaga fought the Imagawa in 1554 and won.  I suggest anyone who has the free time and is visiting the Okehazama area to visit the Fort Muraki landmark.  I would like to express my thanks for the Kajino family for taking their time to show me new things related to the Battle of Okehazama.

Tenka no tame!