Hioki Shrine Video

 Here is a short video on Hioki Shrine located in Nagoya.  During the Battle of Okehazama, Nobunaga visited a few shrines and Hioki was one of them.  Hioki was dedicated to the deity, Ame-no-futodama-no-mikoto. It was one of deities that asked the sun goddess Amaterasu to rejoin the devine. Hioki is located south of Enokihakusan Jinja and north of Atsuta.

Nobunaga no tame!

Nakajima to Okehazama

 

Here is another video on the Battle of Okehazama by historian Owada Tetsuo.  He first holds up one of books on the battle and then discusses what was the route between Fort Nakajima to Okehazama.  Kamagatani was mentioned in the video.  According to local historian Mr. Okehazama (Wataru Kajino), Nobunaga and his army stopped there during the rain storm.  It is also known as the "Nobunaga Slope." At the time of the battle, Kamagatani had a small lake nearby and it was known as Takejiike Pond.

Tetsuo also goes into the two battlefields, Toyoake and Arimatsu.  He tells the viewers that the battle is more expansive than originally thought.  He mentions that if the Imagawa soldiers fleeing to Odaka, Arimatsu is more suitable, as with soldiers fleeing to Kutsukake, Toyoake is the place.

Finally, the video concludes with a mention of the Toyoake City Okehazama Battlefield director Ota Teruo.  I personally met him a few times and have a couple of his published works.  Tetsuo mentions the 689 issue of Rekishi Kenkyu "Okehazama Kassen Imagawa Shiryo Hakken" an article written by Ota Teruo.  At the end Tetsuo holds up a map of Okehazama of year 3 Tenmei (1783).

Tenka no tame!

Okehazama Weather

 It was well known that the day of the Battle of Okehazama was terribly hot.  It was so hot that the barring of the Imagawa soldiers rapidly faded.  A week earlier, Yoshimoto departed Sunpu with his army.  The weather was not known or written down, but it had to decent since the army marched and crossed several rivers with ease.

A link with an article on Okehazama and weather. 

Http://news24.jp/articles/2021/06/11/07888351.html

The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 88) "At that very moment there was a cloudburst. Hailstones pelted the enemy in the face, while ours felt the storm in their back."

Imagawa Yoshimoto was not a fit man.  He was short and fat.  During the campaign he rode on a panalquin with armor.  So during the day of battle, he must of been sweating and clothes wet with sweat.  Of course, the wind and rain came which was to Nobunaga's advantage.  After the rain stopped, Nobunaga attacked Yoshimoto's camp.

Nobunaga no tame!

Nobunaga and Ieyasu

 Here is a video by Owada Tetsuo on the relationship between Nobunaga and Ieyasu.  Equals?  In some ways, but the reality was Nobunaga was the dominant and senior part of the twenty year alliance between the two.  Lamers Japonius Tyrannus (p.49) does a good job describing the relationship between the two.  Ieyasu was not a direct vassal of Nobunaga.  He was independently ranked on par with Nobunaga's retainers. That being said he did take orders from Nobunaga directly.  The only time Ieyasu was in command of Oda forces was in late 1572 at the Battle of Mikatagahara.  It ended up as a disaster as Ieyasu barely escaped.  The video goes into details about Nobunaga giving two huge bags of gold in 1574 after failing to help Ieyasu at Takatenjin. In the end, it was Nobunaga who was senior partner in the relationship.

Tenka no tame!

Yoshimoto's Funeral Video

 As I posted earlier, there was a discovery of the document named Tentakuji Denhinko which describes what happened between Yoshimoto's death at Okehazama to his funeral.  Owada Tetsuo has a nice video on this.  He states that once Yoshimoto was killed at Okehazama, Okabe Motonobu, who was the commander of Narumi Castle at the time requested Yoshimoto's head.  Nobunaga agreed and Okabe Motonobu retreated to Sunpu.  With the weather being so hot, Yoshimoto's body was buried at Daisyoji Temple, Ushikubo in Achi Prefecture.  Tetsuo explains the memorial service being performed there as well as the procedures.  Then Tetsuo goes into great detail about Tentakuji, a temple that was abandoned during the Meiji Era.  Near there is Fushunin, a small temple which has a small mausoleum for Yoshimoto.  A memorial service is performed there and afterwards, everyone walks to Rinzaiji, a major temple for the Imagawa.  Tetsuo explains his participation in the services.  Then comes the introduction of the Tentakuji Denhinko and Sekiguchi/Sena Yoshihiro (Ujizumi) 1518-62.  His daughter was known as Princess Sena or later known as Lady Tsukiyama.  She was the wife of Tokugawa Ieyasu.  Sena Yoshihiro then took committed seppuku at Sunpu in 1562.  Owada then mention the document was written in 1563.  He gives some caution as well.  Great video in general.  Again, all in Japanese.

Nobunaga no tame!

Gifu Castle Walls Map

 

If you are in Gifu at the moment, you are in good luck as the Gifu Castle Preservation Committee has a new map.  The new map contains areas where work was being done related to Gifu Castle stone walls.  The map is free.  Cannot wait to return to Japan as soon as possible.  This looks great in my opinion.

Tenka no tame!

Disgruntled Employee

 Today, June 2nd, Nobunaga became a martyr for Japan and its people.  Let's face it.  Akechi Mitsuhide was a talented man, but in the end he was nothing more than a disgruntled employee.  Mitsuhide would have been a nobody if Nobunaga did not hire him.  Yes, he was an outsider, but Nobunaga knew the risks.  If he wanted to unite Japan, risks has to be taken.  Lamers summed it best in his book Japonius Tyrannus (p. 52), 

"Nobunaga's entourage, from Hashiba Hideyoshi to Akechi Mitsuhide, owed their entire careers and everything that they acquired in the course of their careers to Nobunaga, their overlord."

Nobunaga no tame!

Death of Ieyasu

 Statue of Tokugawa Ieyasu located at Sunpu Castle Park in Shizuoka.  Erected in 1973.

June 1st, 1616 Tokugawa Ieyasu passed away.  The founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate almost never happened.  That was until Nobunaga showed up.  You see, even when Takechiyo (young Ieyasu) was a hostage for a brief time for the Oda at Atsuta, he knew Nobunaga was no fool.  Different and difficult, yes. The man from Mikawa was a hostage again this time for the Imagawa when the two families exchanged hostages at Kasadera. Everything changed at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560.

Nobunaga's victory at the Battle of Okehazama resulted in Imagawa Yoshimoto's death, but also gave Ieyasu a chance of freedom.  If Nobunaga was defeated at Okehazama, Ieyasu would have been still a hostage and a minor retainer at best for the Imagawa.  Nobunaga and Ieyasu then had a twenty year alliance, a rarity during the Sengoku Era.  Both respected one another.  The alliance had some challenges, but they both needed each other for the common good.  Nobunaga no doubt was the senior partner in the relationship.  He was more powerful militarily, politically, and economically.  Ieyasu helped Nobunaga at Anegawa in 1570, but in 1572, he was embarrassed at Mikatagahara.  Ieyasu knew he needed Nobunaga in order to survive.  In 1575, they teamed up and shot the Takeda into pieces at Nagashino.  When Nobunaga was betrayed by Mitsuhide in 1582, Ieyasu lost a piece of his soul, a friend he could count on in need.

How Ieyasu died is another story.  Legend has it he got sick eating fish tempura.  However, the meal he ate was during late January, so the theory out the window. He probably died of sort of disease.

Tenka no tame!

Summer Readings

 I found this novel cover on the net earlier this year.  The author is Seiji Haji (1898-1977).  Nobunaga is wearing his yukata with the Oda crest with a rifle in one hand and munching on either a huge rice ball or mochi. I do like the cover of the book.  The story however, might be about Nobunaga's upbringing to Okehazama.  I do not know.  That being said, it looks good.

Nobunaga no tame!