Nagoya Golden Nobunaga

There is a new Nobunaga statue in Nagoya area located at Entonji.  It is actually not that bad and I like it.  The photo shows the Uesama in armor with a matchlock rifle.  The only thing the statue is missing is  a sword.  There are also a Hideyoshi, Ieyasu, and believe or not Mito Komon statues as well.  However, the Golden Nobunaga always wins out!

Nobunaga no tame!

The Signore Part VII

I have not written anything on Kunio Tsuji's The Signore in a long time.  Today this paragraph describes very accurately that Nobunaga hardly drank any sake unless it was for ceremonial purposes.  Instead, it was his vassals that got drunk.  As always, we are are reminded that he was a self-made man from Owari.

The Signore, p. 35

"He permitted his generals to drink their sake, and looked the other way when, according to the custom of the land, they forced cups upon one another until they were all dead drunk.  But the Signore himself had never been a heavy drinker.  He seemed wholly free of vanity and dressed in the simplest manner.  In fact, he seemed to care little for what others thought of him or his opinions.  He was, in short, supremely self-confident in all matters."

Tenka no tame!

Komaki Castle

In 1563, Nobunaga moved his headquarters to Komaki from Kiyosu.  Nobunaga's stay at Komaki was brief, fours years, but it might give us some clues on what he did later: Azuchi Castle!  Komaki Castle might have been a blueprint for Azuchi Castle. 2013 is the 450th anniversary of the construction of Komaki Castle.  It is not the best, but it has improved the past few years.  I did visit the castle back in 2000 and my experience was not that great.  However, I do plan to make a return visit later this year.  The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga has a passage on Komaki Castle.  (Elisonas/Lamers, pp. 109-110)

"Kazusa no Suke Nobunaga came up with a marvelous ploy.  Kiyosu, which lay in the very center of Owari Province, was a prosperous place.  One day Nobunaga summoned all of his closest retainers and took them up Mount Ninomiya, a high peek surrounded by other mountains.  'I will order a fortress to be constructed on this mountain,' he announced.  'Everybody shall move his residence here.'  He went about assigning plots of land to his vassals.  'Build on this ridge!' he said to one.  'Build in that valley!' he told another.  That same day, he returned to Kiyosu.  Later he went the mountain once more, and at length he drove home his message.  his retainers, whether high- or low-ranking, were not a little unhappy about the orders to leave their Kiyosu homes for the deep mountains; indeed, they were distraught.  At this juncture, Nobunaga issued new orders-to relocate to Mount Komaki.  A waterway extended to its foot, making Komaki a convenient place for transporting household goods and other possessions.  All as one gladly moved there.  Had Nobunaga ordered the move to Komaki from the beginning, his men would have been distressed as they were at the prospect of Ninomiya."

Nobunaga no tame!