Here is an upcoming video on Nobunaga's father, Oda Nobuhide. This will be aired in August from what I understand. Historian Kaku Kozo is a guest on the show. Unfortunately, the new history shows are watered-down in my opinion. If you want to watch high quality Japanese history programming, Sono Toki Rekishi ga Ugoita hosted by Matsudaira Sadatomo is the way to go. Oda Nobuhide was known as the "Owari no tora" or the Tiger of Owari. He gave the Saito and Matsudaira/Imagawa a run for their money. Unfortunately for Nobuhide, most of the time he bit off more than he can chew and never completely unified Owari.
Nobunaga put Mt. Hiei to the torch in 1571. Just about everything was destroyed as well as the people massacred at Enryakuji. That said, some things did escaped the wrath of Nobunaga. There is a recent discovery that nine Buddhist statues did survive Nobunaga's destruction. At first, it was believed that the statues were rebuilt during the Edo Era. Now, with new evidence, the statues were constructed during the Kamakura Era. Extremely rare find indeed.
Tokugawa Ieyasu died in 1616. Without Nobunaga's victory at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, Ieyasu probably would have been a minor footnote. The friendship between Nobunaga and Ieyasu lasted until 1582, when Nobunaga died. As for Ieyasu, there is a story that he died due to eating tempura. I do not think it actually happened. If he really did die because of it, the fish might have been off.
Conrad Totman Tokugawa Ieyasu Shogun (p. 108)
"Popular wisdom credits Ieyasu's fondness for simple food with being the end of him. His final sickness commenced during a hawking expedition, and the customary story tells us that while he was hunting, his friend, the merchant Chaya Shirojiro, visited to pay his respects. Talking idly, Chaya described a tasty dish then fashionable in Kyoto, the fish sea bream (tai) fried in sesame oil and garnished with shredded garlic. Ieyasu said it sounded delicious and promptly ordered two varieties of sea bream caught and prepared in the Kyoto manner. They were served, and and he pronounced them excellent and ate his full. Shortly afterward he became sick and presumably from spoiled fish, and never recovered."
The video above is a simple recipe of what Ieyasu might have ate. Nothing luxurious. Fish, flour, water, and salt.
Believe it or not Nobunaga participated in the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto in 1578. I myself have participated a couple of times. It was a beautiful experience. As always, I will use the Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 286) as my source.
"Sixth Month, 14th day: Nobunaga watched the Gion Festival. He told his horse guards and pages that was no need for bows, spears, halberds, or other hand weapons, so they carried none. After viewing the festival, he gave leave to his guards and went hawking straight away with about ten pages."
What stands out is that there were no weapons. Save environment? Or did not want to start any trouble with the amount of participants.
There is a new Rekishijin issue on Tokugawa Ieyasu. This leads us into the new 2023 NHK drama. Topics include:
Okehazama
Mikatagahara
Nagashino
Lady Tsukiyama
Sekigahara
Battle of Osaka
Unfortunately, Anegawa was not mentioned. I presume it will be some reference to the battle since Nobunaga and Ieyasu participated and won for the day.
Earlier last month I found a nice article by Busho Japan regarding the Battle of Anegawa 1570. The battle itself does not get much love from historians. I do not know why. I have visited the battlefield back in 2001.
The article is broken down into four parts. That being said, one of key points in my opinion, was Anegawa a draw? Yes and no. The Oda/Tokugawa army did defeat the Asai/Asakura army on that day. However, the Asai/Asakura did live to fight another day. It was not until 1573, when Nobunaga wiped out the Asai and the Asakura.
It is well known that Asakura Yoshikage did not participate at the Battle of Anegawa. The person who led the Asakura army was Asakura Kagetake. The Asakura/Tokugawa fought at Mitamura, while the Oda/Azai at Nomura.
Here is the trailer for the new Nobunaga and Nohime movie, The Legend and the Butterfly. Takuya Kimura will play the role of Nobunaga and Haruka Ayase will play the role of Nohime. The movie will open on January 27th, 2023. From the trailer above, this looks amazingly good.
Here is a video by my Okehazama colleague Seishiro Mizuno along with Murakami Musen. Topics include The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga, Odaka Castle, Yoshimoto's aim, and many others. If anything, you will learn that Odaka Castle was near the coastline during the time of the Battle of Okehazama. The geography has changed since. The video is thirty minutes long and it is easy to follow and understand.
