Nobunaga no tame!
Movie of the Year: The Legend & Butterfly starring Takuya Kimura and Ayase Haruka. I was able to watch the movie earlier this year while in Japan. It was a good movie, even though it was three hours long. The acting was good as well as the costume and design. I did like the movie had two endings. One of the better Nobunaga movies in a long time.
Book of the Year: Wakaki Nobunaga Shirarezaru Hansei by Seishiro Mizuno. I bought this book earlier this year while in Japan. Glad I did. This book covers most or all the landmarks related to Nobunaga in the Owari domain as well as The Battle of Okehazama. Extremely useful and much more compact. It must be said that Seishiro Mizuno is a good friend of mine and I have collaborated with him on the Battle of Okehazama. Sure, we have differences, but that is okay. It is needed to understand the Battle of Okehazama better. There is even a few landmarks related to Gifu as well as museum listings.
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Nobunaga no tame!
"Meanwhile, Nobunaga encircled the forts at Nakae and Yamagashima with multiple fences, cooping up the twenty thousand men and women remaining there. He gave orders to set fire to those enclosures on all four sides and been everyone inside. Having dealt with the confederates as he pleasesd, on the 29th of the Ninth Month he returned to Gifu from his campaign."
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The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 55)
"The next year, [Tenbun 16 (1547)], Oda Saburo Nobunaga went on his first military campaign, accompanied by Hirate Nakazukasa no Jo. For this occasion, Nobunaga was attired in a red-striped head cover (zukin) and half-coat (haori); his horse was fitted with armor. Nobunaga led his troops toward Kira and Ohama in Mikawa Province, where a Suruga force was stationed. After setting fires Here and there, he had a field camp pitched for the day. The next day he returned to Nagoya from his expedition."
Nobunaga no tame!
Here is another short passage from The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 303) This takes place in 1578.
"The evening of the first day of the Twelfth Month, according to a scheme contrived by Hachisuka Hikoemon (Masakatsu), these two came to Nobunaga's camp at Koyano to pay their respects. Nobdid not disguise his satisfaction. He sent Abe and Shibayama on their way home full of gratitude for his gift of two hundred pieces of gold."
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Here is a small video on Atsuta Jingu located in the heart of Nagoya. On the day of the Battle of Okehazama, Nobunaga and his army arrived at Atsuta Shrine around eight in the morning. Kiyosu Castle to Atsuta is approximately seven miles. Atsuta to Fort Tange is around five miles. The video shows Kamichikama Shrine as well as the Nobunaga Victory Wall. When the wall was built, it measured 650 feet long and 10 feet in height. The wall was built with mud, lime, and grease.
Nobunaga no tame!
"On Tensho 4, the Year of Fire and the Rat, Eleventh Month, 21st day, Nobunaga was again advanced to high office, being named Minister of the Middle (Naidaijin). As before, Nobunaga assigned landed estates to import members of the regency lineage and the rest of the high nobility. To the imperial palace he offered two hundred gold, aloes wood, rolls of cloth, and a plenitude of other items, presenting these gifts to His Majesty's inspection. The emperor graciously deigned to bestow court garments on Nobunaga. There could be no honor greater than this."
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Last night I found a nice video on Banshoji Temple. It is the home and grave of Oda Nobunaga's father, Oda Nobuhide (1511?-51/52?). It is located in the heart of Nagoya in the Osu Kannon district. Nobuhide constructed the temple in 1540. He was the son of Oda Nobusada and he was known as the "Tiger of Owari" Owari no tora. Nobuhide fought the Saito, Imagawa, and Matsudaira families throughout his career. He was the lord of Shobata, Furuwatari, and Suemori Castles.
Nobunaga no tame!
Tenka no tame!
Nobunaga no tame!
Here is the second trailer for the new Shogun series starring Hiroyuki Sanada. It will air in 2024. So far the series looks like a coin flip.
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Nobunaga no tame!
Tenka no tame!
Here is another passage from The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga that took place in 1579.
(p. 325) "On the 4th of the Ninth Month, Hashiba Chikuzen no Kami Hideyoshi came to Azuchi from Harima Province. He reported having reached an agreement with Ukita of Bizen regarding the terms of their pardon and asked Nobunaga to issue a vermilion-seal letter to them. But Nobunaga said that it was miscreant of Hideyoshi to make a deal with the enemy without asking for instructions first, and sent him flying back to Harima."
Nobunaga no tame!
1,300 post and still going strong. Thank you for your support. Here is another passage from the The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 241) This takes place in 1575.
"On the 3rd of the Tenth Month, the men whom Nobunaga had sent to the Far North for the purpose of obtaining falcons brought back fifty. Twenty-three of these Nobunaga bought for himself, and his men acquired the rest."
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Nobunaga no tame!
"I run into Nobunaga's study breathless after hearing a shocking rumor. They are saying that Monkey (Hideyoshi) ordered his men to cut off Ichi's mother-in-law's fingers one a day tillage was finally executed.
Holding my fast-beating heart, I scowl at Nobunaga. `Is it true?'
'Fake news.' He corrects me."
The actual truth is that Azai Nagamasa's mother Ono-tono (d. 1573) did have her fingers removed. It was ordered by Nobunaga who had no love loss of the Azai. It was a gruesome and cruel death.
Tenka no tame!
Nobunaga no tame!
Unfortunately there was an accident at the 2023 Nagoya Matsuri. The person who portrayed Nobunaga in the festival, fell off the horse.
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Nobunaga no tame!
Tenka no tame!
The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 144)
"In Chokoji, Shibata Shuri no Suke was appointed castellan."
Soon after Katsuie was appointed to Chokoji, the Rokkaku attacked it. Katsuie was outnumbered. That being said, he was not going to surrender. The Rokkaku cut off the water supply, but it did not bother Katsuie at all. It was said that he smashed the remaining water jars and attacked the Rokkaku army. It worked. The Rokkaku were defeated and the siege was lifted.
Nobunaga no tame!
Tenka no tame!
After the siege of Mt. Hiei in 1571, Nobunaga gave orders to Kawajiri Hidetaka and Niwa Nagahide to wipe out the Takimiya.
The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 166)
"On the 21st of the Ninth Month, acting on Nobunaga's orders, Kawajiri Yohyoe and Niwa Gorozaemon invited Takimiya Ukyo no Suke and all prominent members of his family to Sawayama and killed them. The Takimiya put up a fight but were finished off without difficulty. The reason for this measure was that during last year's Noda and Fukushima campaign, the Takimiya had acted in concert with the Honganji in scheming to cause an uprising. Halfway through the campaign they had deserted their post at Kawaguchi, an outpost of Nobunaga's fort in Tenmangamori, and had gone over to the side of Ozaka."
Nobunaga no tame!
Tenka no tame!
Nobunaga no tame!
Tenka no tame!
The 2023 Azuchi Nobunaga Festival will be held on November 12th. Photo above provides the details.
Nobunaga no tame!
It was wellknown that Yanada Masatsuna provided key intelligence to Nobunaga on the whereabouts of Imagawa Yoshimoto during the Battle of Okehazama. Nobunaga rewarded him with Kutsukake Castle and cash. That being said, there is little known about him after the battle. Here is some interesting information regarding Yanada Masatsuna. In 1573, he participated in a tea ceremony with Kawajiri Hidetaka, Ban Naomasa, with tea master Tsuda Sogyu.
Oda Nobunaga Kashin Jinmei Jiten (p. 507) by Taniguchi Katsuhiro
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The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 133)
"On the 20th of the Eighth Month, Nobunaga set out for a campaign in Ise. That day he went as far as Kuwana. The following day he stayed there and went hawking."
Nobunaga no tame!
In 1581, there was a huge illumination Festival at Azuchi Castle. Nobunaga made sure everyone to see the beautiful lighting of Azuchi Castle. This was part of his soft power.
The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 406)
"On the 15th of the Seventh Month, Nobunaga had a great many lanterns suspended from the donjon of Azuchi Castle as well as from the Sokenji. Members of his horse guards, some posted along the new road and some riding in boats across the inlet, each lit a torch, so the foot of the mountain shone. As the lights reflected in the water, a spectacle delighted beyond words was created. There were croof onlookers."
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Nobunaga no tame!
Yakushi Konuka or Yakushi-in is a small temple located in Kyoto. There is a small wooden statue there that has a relationship between Nobunaga and Saito Dosan. It seem that Nobunaga took the statue from the care of Dosan and placed it here at Yakushi-in. If you want a reference for the Nobunaga and Dosan Yakushi Konuka relationship, please see the ending of Sono Toki Rekishi ga Ugoita Nobunaga to Dosan. That episode was aired on September 8th, 2004 by NHK hosted by Matsudaira Sadatomo.
Nobunaga no tame!
Http://sengokudama.com/okazu/en.html
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Nobunaga no tame!
The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 286)
"Tiger, Sixth Month, 14th day: Nobunaga watched the Gion Festival. He had told his horse guards and pages that there was no need for bows, spears, halberds, or other hand weapons, so they carried none. After viewing the festival, he gave leave to his life guards and went hawking straight away with ten pages."
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Second, Owada Tetsuo pointed out that Lady Tsukiyama was not an evil woman. He stated that it was from the Edo Era. I find this hard to believe. Lady Tsukiyama never forgave Ieyasu for his alliance with Nobunaga. She was from the Imagawa family and she constantly reminded Ieyasu about that. I think Tetsuo was trying to another opinion on the matter. Again, I do not believe it. She was an Imagawa girl until her death.
The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga has nothing on the incident. (p. 39) Gyuichi left it out.
"Perhaps he simply decided that it was an internal affair of the Tokugawa family and as a result did not belong in his book."
Nobunaga no tame!
The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 229)
"On the 3rd of the Seventh Month, His Imperial Highness [Crown Prince Sanehito] put on kickball matches at the imperial palace. Mere words cannot describe how splendidly the ceremony and decorum appropriate to such events were put on display. Nobunaga brought only his horse guards along with him."
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The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 226) "Now Nobunaga's army broke ranks and set off in hot pursuit."
Baba Nobuharu, who served under Shingen and Katsuyori was killed in action while trying to cover Katsuyori's rear. It was even noted in The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 226) " Among them all, Baba Mino no Kami stood out by his unparalleled bold feats."
Nobunaga no tame!
Tenka no tame!
Nobunaga no tame!
Now I will use The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 225) "Having given strict instructions beforehand that action only be initiated on the receipt of orders from him, having assigned Sassa Kura no Suke, Maeda Matazaemon, Nonomura Sanjuro (Masanari), Fukuzumi Heizaemon, and Ban Kurozaemon as his commissioners in charge of about one thousand harquebusiers, Nobunaga now gave the order for his light infantry to occupy their forward positions close to the enemy line and watched as they did so."
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Nobunaga no tame!
The second part is the Takeda horsemen. How fast the horse can go. It was nice to see a Japanese horse than the usual thoroughbred. Now the real experiment takes place. The Nagashino teppo squad is at the fence. At first everyone is lined up in three rows firing one after another. However, time to reload and shoot was long. The second experiment everyone fired their rounds individually. There were more rounds fired at the rate of every three seconds. Probably accurate in my opinion. At the 7:30 minute mark or so there is CGI where bullets are firing towards the viewer. Just imagine if you were one of the members of the Takeda calvary and bullets are fired in your direction. Not a good feeling for sure.
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I wrote a post about Yasuda Kunitsugu's spear a couple of years ago. Https://otsuke.blogspot.com/2021/02/honnoji-spear.html
It seems that Mori Ranmaru fought Kunitsugu and stabbed him in the stomach with a cross shaped spear. As for his birth and death date it was listed as unknown in the Sengoku Jinmei Jiten (1990) by Abe Takeshi and Nishimura Keiko. However, it was listed on Wikipedia.
Nobunaga no tame!
Today is the day Nobunaga was betrayed by Akechi Mitsuhide and history was changed forever. I still believe that Mitsuhide was nothing more than a disgruntled employee. Even before he attacked the Honnoji, Mitsuhide was a man who did not know which course of action to take.
Japonius Tyrannus (p. 214) "Mitsuhide's behavior directly before the Honnoji Incident was that of man having serious doubts as what course of action to take."
In the new 2nd Edition of Kicho & Nobunaga by Rumi Komonz, Nohime chews out Mitsuhide. (p. 233) "You were a coward before, and a coward now." Now, I do not believe Nohime was with Nobunaga during the Honnoji Incident. She was probably staying at Azuchi Castle.
As for the best Honnoji scene, The Legend & Butterfly stands out. Highly accurate in my opinion. Second best goes to Nobunaga King of Zipangu.
Tenka no tame!
Tenka no tame!
While in Japan earlier this year, I still had a heated discussion related to the Arimatsu and Toyoake City Battlefields. One must remember that the scope of the battle was more expansive than originally thought. The battle dead were scattered everywhere. Imagawa soldiers who were trying to escape to Kutsukake Castle was killed around the Toyoake City Battlefield. The same goes for Odaka Castle. Those who were trying to flee there, was killed around the Arimatsu Okehazama Battlefield.
Nobunaga no tame!
Earlier today I have been reading some articles on Sugitani Zenjubo, who tried to assassinate Nobunaga in 1570. The rock where he was hiding is still around. There is not much information on him, unfortunately. Was he a Saigashu, Negoroshu, or a hunter? Nobody knows. There is speculation that he was a monk. Again, only speculation.
Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (pp. 144-5). "In cold blood, Sugitani took aim at Lord Nobunaga from a distance of twelve or thirteen ken (twenty-two to twenty-four meters) and fired a double load. But the Way of Heaven watched over Nobunaga, and the bullets merely grazed his body."
Since he missed the opportunity to kill Nobunaga, it was only a matter of time before he was caught and put to death. After Nobunaga destroyed the Azai and Asakura in 1573, Sugitani Zenjubo met his fate. Isono Tanba caught him and brought him to Nobunaga. Suganoya Kuemon and Hafuri Yasburo interrogated him and Nobunaga finally put Sugitani Zenjubo to death. Buried to up to his shoulders, his head was slowly sawed off.
Tenka no tame!
Nobunaga no tame!
Here is the trailer to Takeshi Beats's new film Kubi. Takeshi will play the role of Hideyoshi while Ryo Kase will play the role of Nobunaga. This is another Honnoji film, but is it a comedy or not? I do not know. That being said, there seems to be a lot of action in this film, a plus. Kubi is suppose to open in theaters later this fall.
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Here is a recent video by historian Owada Tetsuo. This video discusses Ieyasu's move to Hikuma from Okazaki. Then Ieyasu changes the name Hikuma to modern day Hamamatsu. Also the last part of the video discusses Ieyasu's involvement with Nobunaga at the Battle of Anegawa.
Nobunaga no tame!
Tenka no tame!
Nobunaga no tame!
The 2023 Nagashino Matsuri will be held May 3rd to the 5th. On the 5th, the big boys like Nobunaga and Ieyasu will be out with the gunnery squad. I have been to the festival at least twice and it was well worth it. If you have the chance to go, by all means go. You will not be disappointed.
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In 1556, Nobunaga's father-in-law, Saito Dosan (1494-1556) was killed at the Battle of Nagaragawa. There was bad blood between him and his son Yoshitatsu. The bad blood started in 1553 when Nobunaga and Dosan met at Shotokuji. Once Dosan knew Nobunaga was not an idiot and a genius, the relationship between him and Yoshitatsu fell apart. Probably Yoshitatsu was jealous of Nobunaga. He most likely knew Nobunaga was not a fool, but too embarrassed to express his opinion.
"Nagai Chuzaemon took on Dosan, laid hold of him as he was raising high his assault sword, and locked him in am embrace. Just when Nagai had almost succeeded in taking Yamashiro Dosan alive, Komaki Genta, a ferocious samurai, came running up, mowed down Dosan crosswise at the shins, and took his head as he fell prostrate."
Another reason why Yoshitatsu rebelled was that he was not the son of Dosan, but the son of Toki Yorinari. This was untrue. Toki Yorinari did have Miyoshino as a partner. When she became Dosan's concubine, she was not pregnant at that time. So in my opinion, Yoshitatsu made up this excuse to give him a reason to attack Dosan.
Nobunaga no tame!
The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (pp. 165-6)
"Moreover, they captured countless beautiful women and boys, and led them before Nobunaga. `We don't care about the evil monks,' they shrieked, 'but spare us!' Nobunaga, however, absolutely refused to reprieve them. One by one, they had their heads chopped off, a scene horrible to behold. Thousands of corpses lay scattered about like so many little sticks, a pitiful end."
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Nobunaga no tame!
The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 61)
"When the time came for Nobunaga to burn incense for the deceased, he stepped up to the altar looking like this: He bore his long-hilted sword and dagger stuck in a straw rope that he had wrapped around himself. His hair was tied straight up like a tea whisk. He was not even wearing formal trousers (hakama). He abruptly grabbed a handful of incense powder, threw it at the altar, and left."
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It seems that Nobunaga often contributed to repair the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. Again, Nobunaga takes charge and the Palace is repaired.
Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (p. 219)
"On the first day of the Fourth Month, Nobunaga made a declaration of the following report: Because in recent times the imperial palace had become dilapidated, he ordered repairs to be undertaken some years ago, and the project was duly finished. The imperial nobility, however, had in the course of its decline sold off its estates of land everywhere. Nobunaga therefore gave instructions to Murai Minbu no Jo and Niwa Gorozaemon to implement an act of grace returning their original properties to the nobles. Thus a simultaneous restoration of the sovereign, of the nobility, and of the military was effected, earning Nobunaga a peerless renown. There could be no greater glory in the realm."
Reconstruction work began in 1569 and was finished in 1571.
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Odaka Castle was constructed by Hanai Bitchu no Kami in the years of 1504-21. It measured from east to west approximately 348 feet from north to south 105 feet. The castle consisted of two moats, one outer, and an inner and it was built on a lowland hill. The Hanai and Mizuno families held Odaka in the past before the castle fell in the hands of the Imagawa.
Matsudaira Motoyasu (Tokugawa Ieyasu) brought needed supplies to Odaka during the Battle of Okehazama. Supplies included 450 bags of rice and 110-150 horses.
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Link: Https://www.kentei-uketsuke.com/nobunaga/
Nobunaga no tame!
Tenka no tame!
