Mt Atago

 Right before Mitsuhide rebelled against Nobunaga, he made a visit to Mt. Atago.

Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 466)

"On the 26th of the Fifth Month, Koreto Hyuga no Kami departed Sakamoto for the Chugoku campaign and arrived at his residential castle of Kameyama in Tanba. The following day, the 27th, he went Kameyama on a votive vist to Mount Atago.  Koreto Hyuga no Kami spent the night there in solitary meditation."

Nobunaga no tame!

Okehazama Day 2022

 Today is May 19th, day of the Battle of Okehazama.  I will share with you the last moments of Imagawa Yoshimoto and tell you something that most historians do not talk about.

Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p.89)

"Imagawa men-at-arms formed a circle around Yoshimoto, covering him while they retreated. Twice, thrice, four, and even five times they counterattack, but their numbers were gradually depleted. There have been roughly three hundred of them at first; at the end, only fifty remained."

The people who were guarding Yoshimoto were NOT foot soldiers.  They were bushi/warrior type. That is important. Again, they were not ashigaru/foot soldiers.  It was the bushi who tried to protect Yoshimoto.  Yoshimoto was soon killed by Mori Shinsuke.  The victory at the Battle of Okehazama started Nobunaga's quest to unite Japan.

Tenka no tame!

Chiryu Castle

 On May 17th, 1560 Imagawa Yoshimoto and his army arrived at Chiryu Castle.  Two days before he was killed at the Battle of Okehazama.  Chiryu Castle at the time was under the command of the Nagami family.  It was seven miles from Okazaki and six miles to Kutsukake. To reach Chiryu, the Imagawa army passed through Yahagi, Uto, Yatsubashi,Imamura, and Ushida.  The Yahagi River was also crossed.

Nobunaga no tame!

Canceled Again

 Unfortunately, the Arimatsu Okehazama Festival is canceled again, according to the people in charge.  Devastated for sure.  Everything is practically normal here in San Diego. Instead, they will hold their yearly memorial service.  Which is fine, but I would have the festivities go on as normal.  That being said, what I am being told from the Okehazama committee members there will be a small festival in the fall related to Ieyasu's delivering supplies to Odaka on the eve of the battle.

Tenka no tame!

Okehazama Geography Video

 This is a two minute video showing the viewer the geography of the Okehazama Battlefield between 1940 to 2020.  At once you will notice that in 1940, the battlefield area is not heavily developed at all.  It still had that old country feeling to it.  At the present time we live in, the battlefield area has developed into a modern suburb.

Tenka no tame!

Futamata Castle

 Continuing with Battle of Okehazama month posts, this one is short discussing Futamata Castle.  During the time of Battle of Okehazama, Matsui Munenobu (1515-60) was the Lord of Futamata Castle which was located in Totomi Province.  

Now is is a snippet years later when the Takeda surrounded the Castle in 1572.

Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 176)

"This is what happened on the Totomi front.

In the last decade of the Eleventh Month, reports came in that Takeda Shingen had surrounded Futamata Castle in Totomi. Lord Nobunaga immediately sent a force under his household elders Sakuma Uemon no Jo, Hirate Jinzaemon, Mizuno Shimotsuke no Kami to the relief, but by the time this force arrived at Hamamatsu in Totomi, Futamata had fallen."

This was the prelude to the Battle of Mikatagahara.

Nobunaga no tame!

Mitsuhide no Sentaku

 Found another historical novel about Mitsuhide.  The novel title is Mitsuhide no Sentaku or Mitsuhide's choice.  The novel was written by Kiichiro Suzuki.

Tenka no tame!

Okehazama Participate Movie

May is the Battle of Okehazama month.  If you have the cash, you can participate in a short video.  It looks like fun and if I had the chance to do it, I would with hesitation.  All the information as well as link is printed on the flyer above.

Nobunaga no tame!

Nobunaga and Mikawa Ohama

 I found this gem last night before going to bed.  Owada Tetsuo explains the relationship of Mikawa Ohama and Nobunaga and Ieyasu.  It is a known fact that in 1547, Nobunaga participated in his first baptism of fire at Mikawa Ohama against the Suruga forces.  Owada goes into detail on the battle.  Nice video and something different.

Tenka no tame!