Monday, June 2, 2014

Honnoji 2014



Today is a somber day as we remember that the Uesama was betrayed by Akechi Mitsuhide and took his life at the Honnoji Temple in Kyoto 2 June 1582.  Nobunaga fought gallantly to the end even though he knew it was a lost cause.  I have a post from about four years ago on Luis Frois written account on the Honnoji Rebellion: http://otsuke.blogspot.com/2010/06/honnoji-by-luis-frois.html


Nobunaga no tame!  Tenka no tame!  Owari ni hikari wo!

6 comments:

Daeva said...

So, after all this time, what do you think of this fateful betrayal..?
Some thinks that Mitsuhide wanted to suceed Nobunaga in his task to unify the country, but I must confess that the "boring" theory according which he just wanted to live "in peace" in his provinces is growing on me...

D_A Renoir said...

Well, there are sources that say Akechi started acting all high and mighty after he killed Nobunaga.

He's occupying Kyoto, accepting tributes from other lords, and so on.

I haven't seen that proven not true yet, so it's too early to dismiss the idea that Akechi wants to conquer the land himself.

Daeva said...

It depends! We don't know the contents of the discussions that he had with the Emperor's envoy or the Oda retainers that he contacted, maybe he was just looking for allies-- Are there further sources on Mitsuhide whereabouts inbetween the loot of Azuchi and his staying in Yamazaki..?

otsuke said...

George Samson's A History of Japan 1334-1615 might have some infomation.

D_A Renoir said...

According to the one I read, people are giving him gifts and paying "tribute".

I'll have to look at it again because I don't remember exactly what it says.

Daeva said...

Thanks! I know a library that owns it, I'll give it a read when I can ;) !