Akechi Mitsuhide no Shiro to Shiseki

 

Here is a magazine/book on Akechi Mitsuhide.  The topic of the book is on Mitsuhide's castles and historical landmarks.  It covers areas such as Mino, Echizen, Lake Biwa, Tanba, and Kyoto.  Historian Owada Tetsuo makes a contribution to the published work.

Tenka no tame!

Mikatagahara Video

 Here is an unusual long video by Owada Tetsuo explaining the key points on the Battle of Mikatagahara 1572/73.  Nobunaga sent a token force led by Sakuma Nobumori to help Tokugawa Ieyasu.  It did not matter, since Ieyasu was routed by Takeda Shingen.  Nobunaga lost key people such as Sawaki Tohachi, Yamaguchi Hida, and Kato Saburo. While the video is long, it is informative.  One will learn that the famous Ieyasu portrait of himself after the battle was probably painted during the Edo Era.

Nobunaga no tame!

Enjoying Okehazama

 

My good friend Mikawa Hide has a nice post on Okehazama.  His post is about enjoying the moment when visiting the Arimatsu and Toyoake battlefields.

1. Easily can visited in day.  Both Okehazama battlefields Arimatsu/Toyoake City can be seen in day.  You can walk from the Arimatsu to the Toyoake City battlefield in about 15 minutes.  During the time of the battle (1560), the geography was much different and the time between the two areas much shorter.  During the time of the battle, the distance between the two was anywhere between five to ten minutes.

2. Certain things can be only locally explored. So true.  For example, Takaneyama.  It was the camp of Matsui Munenobu.  Takaneyama was steep and still is to this day.  It was 177 feet above sea level and it was the highest point during the battle.  As for Toyoake City, Senninzuka.  This is where the war dead was buried.  Senninzuka is located farther east from the Toyoake City battlefield.  This explains why the battlefield was much more expansive than originally thought.

Link: Https://ameblo.jp/mikawa-hide/entry-12730757041.html

Tenka no tame!

Kayatsu Battle Landmark

 This is the Battle of Kayatsu landmark which was erected in Showa 35 (October, 1960).  The Battle of Kayatsu/Kaizu took place in the early 1550s.  This was the beginning of Nobunaga's quest to unify Owari after his father's (Nobuhide) death.  Also this was Maeda Toshiie's first baptism of fire.

Nobunaga no tame!

Yoshiaki Was Used

 Ashikaga Yoshiaki was a mean, cruel, and feeble minded shogun.  He was not not up to the job.  Sure, he had better claim to succeed than his cousin Yoshihide.  In fact, the Rokkaku and the Asakura did not help him.  The only person who would help Yoshiaki to Kyoto and take the title of Shogun was Nobunaga.  Nobunaga's objective was not to resurrect the old regime, but to legitimate his own goal, the realm.  Nobunaga eventually banished Yoshiaki in 1573.  In the end, Yoshiaki was a king without a kingdom.

This passage from the Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga explains other families did not bother with Yoshiaki.  They probably knew what Nobunaga and others knew, Yoshiaki was not guy.

(p.115) "The kubo, Lord Ichijion (Ashikaga Yoshiaki), had appealed to Sasaki Jotei for support, Jotei, however, failed to heed his call.  Next, proceeding to Echizen, Lord Ichijion asked Asakura Sakyo no Daibu Yoshikage for assistance, but that too, did not bring him any closer to Kyoto. Finally, he decided to put his trust in Kazusa no Suke Nobunaga. His message to that effect was transmitted to Nobunaga through Hosokawa Hyobu no Daibu (Fujitaka) and Wata Iga no Kami (Koremasa)."

Tenka no tame!