Atsuta Shrine News

Early this morning while on Facebook, my good friend Hideyasu from Mikawa-hide posted an article that caught my attention right away.  When Nobunaga stopped at Atsuta Shrine to pray for victory during the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, he supposedly prayed at Kami Chikama at Atsuta Shrine.  According to my friend's post, this picture you see here is not at its original position.  Kami Chikama was located about 150 meters south of the shrine during the Sengoku Era.  The shrine was moved to its current location in the 24th year of the Showa or 1949.  Unfortunately, there is not landmark at its old position.

http://ameblo.jp/mikawa-hide/entry-11447900627.html

The Shincho-Ko ki on Nobunaga's visit (Elisonas/Lamers, p. 87)

"Nobunaga and his following, six horsemen in all, quickly covered the three leagues to Atsuta.  When Nobunaga stood in front of the Gendayu Shrine (another name for Kami Chikama) at the Hour of the Dragon [around 8 a.m.] and looked to the east,...."

Owari ni hikari wo.

Nobunaga no tame!

Nobunaga's Birth I

Still to this day, Nobunaga's birth place is a mystery.  Is is Nagoya Castle or Shobata Castle?  It the past, Nagoya was standard birth place, but now Shobata is excepted and is the new standard.  In fact, there is news that statues of Nobunaga's parents with the baby will be erected at the Shobata Castle landmark.  To tell you the truth, I am still confident that Nagoya Castle is the birth place of the Uesama.

Back in 1532, Nobunaga's father took over Yanagi no maru after he banished Imagawa Ujitoyo (Imagawa Yoshimoto's younger brother) during a linked haiku party.  After he got rid of Ujitoyo, the castle was renamed Nagoya. This makes Nagoya as Nobunaga's birthplace.  His birth date is also is question.  He was born in 1534, but the dates are many.  May 12 is the standard, but the 11th and 28 is also noted.

However, it is said that Nobuhide took over the castle in the late 1530s.  Thus, making Shobata the birthplace.  Oda Nobunaga historian Taniguchi Katsuhiro thinks Shobata is the place.  See his book Owari*Oda Ichizoku if you think Shobata is the place.

As stated above, I think Nagoya is the birthplace of the Uesama.  It just makes sense since it was the strongest castle at the time under Nobuhide's control. More importantly, it was centrally located in Owari surrounded by other Oda castles.  Another factor is historian Owada Tetsuo.  His work on Nobunaga has him always listed the birthplace Nagoya and usually trust his work.

The debate still goes on today and I am very flexible enough to know that Shobata Castle might be Nobunaga's birthplace. However, I am still not sold on it at the time being.  Nagoya for now.

I did write a post on this back in 2007.  http://otsuke.blogspot.com/2007/11/nobunagas-birth.html

Owari ni hikari wo.

Tenka no tame!

Sekigahara Book

There will be a new book on the Battle of Sekigahara out very soon.  Mr. Chris Glenn is the author of the book and here is the link: http://www.sekigaharabook.jp/

Tony Bryant's book Sekigahara 1600: The Final Struggle For Power is the English standard bearer.  It is very good and highly recommended.  I learned a lot from Tony's book and and used his book when visiting the battlefield in 2000-1.  Without his book, I would have never known about Sekigahara  Warland.  I highly recommend a visit there, even if it is a bit tacky.  His book was the real motivator to visit the battlefield in the first place.  Thanks Tony.

The big question now is what will Chris bring to the table?  If it is true and his book will bring a new fresh take on the battle with new information and tidbits, then it will be a success.  I hope so.  One of my main concerns will be the bibliography.  Is the bibliography going to be both English and Japanese with current and reliable works from the big shot historians such as Owada Tetsuo and the gang.  Again, I hope so.  When I was writing my book on the Battle of Okehazama, I made sure I had the most reliable sources I had in both languages.  To tell you the true, it was not easy.

I hope Chris's new book will open many new doors to the battle and bring in a fresh debate on the battle.  I have to admit, I only know the basics because the Battle of Sekigahara is not my cup of tea.  Oda Nobunaga is my cup of tea.  Hopefully, Chris's book will expand my knowledge on the battle.  I wish the new author nothing but success.

Owari ni hikari wo.

Nobunaga no tame!

Happy 2013

Siege warfare is not pretty.  It is nasty, cruel, dirty, yet effective and neccessary.  This passage from David D. Neilson's Society at War explains it is over for those on the top.  Unfortunately, even the women and children were not immune from the Uesama's warpath to unification.

Neilson (p. 236)

"On the seventeenth of January 1580, the wife of Besho Yamashiro gathered her three children, two boys and one girl around her.  She then took a knife and stabbed each of them to death before cutting her own throat.  Their deaths as well as those of a number of other prominent members of the Besho Clan were part of a negotiated peace settlement that ended a siege of their castle that had seen the garrison survive for most of a year after their food supply lines had been severed.  Those in the castle had been reduced to eating the bark of trees and digging for the roots of the grasses in order to survive.  Scenes such as this were not unusual during the early years of the unification process and were repeated throughout the realm as Nobunaga's rapidly expanding hegemony in central Japan began to show ambitions of going national in its scope."

If you were an enemy of the Uesama and he has you surrounded.  You were done. Forget about it and no questions asked. Many killed themselves so they will not be publicly humiliated while being executed.  Life at the top might have been great, but when it was over, it was over.  Nobunaga had to do anything it took to unify Japan and was successful at it.

Tenka no tame!

Nobunaga link

I found this link through a friend from Facebook and thought it would be appropriate to post it.

http://www.kentei-uketsuke.com/nobunaga/

The name of the program is Nobunaga Sengoku Rekishi Kentei.

It is a link with Owada Tetsuo and others that an event will be held on February 24.
The awesome part is the practice questions.  For those who can read Japanese/kanji, there is a renshu mondai bar.  Click it and there should be ten questions to answer.  Some of the questions are:  What was Nobunaga's birth name, his wife, and who was Ieyasu's uncle.  It is a fun quiz to take and yours truly did well.

Nobunaga no tame!

2012 Awards

Before I write about the 2012 Awards, I would like to tell you the reader about my condition.  Ever since my accident in May of 2011, my life has changed completely.  Two surgeries later, I am still suffering a lot of body pain and more important my mental health has declined drastically.  At times, I do not think I am going to make it through the entire day.  Still, my mental health is not the best and wonder if I am going to die today or the next.  I am getting medical treatment, but I think the best treatment is being in Japan.  I feel better there and my mental and physical health improves as well.

Okay, let us get back to business.  Here are my awards.

Best book/Thesis:  David D. Neilson  Society at War:  Eyewitness Accounts of Sixteenth Century Japan

Runner-up: Brandon C. Schindewolf  Toki wa Ima.

The Historians of the Year:  The 2012 Fuji TV Ii ne Nippon ga Daisuki Gaikokujin Grand Prix Sengoku Busho.

Finally after a couple of years of being the runner-up, Neilson's thesis finally on top.  I cannot stress how important his thesis is.  It covers the Men of the Fields who often did a lot of the dirty work in the Sengoku Era.  Neilson's thesis covers the Battle of Okehazama, the Sunomata Project, and the cruelty of Sengoku warfare.  As for the Battle of Okehazama scholar, his thesis is a gold mine and provides key evidence that Nobunaga really had a plan well thought out before he rode out into battle.  Regarding Sunomata, planning was essential and the main weapon that was used was guns.  Neilson covers this in great detail.

Schindewolf's paper Toki wa Ima, covers the Honnoji Incident.  A major coup in my opinion.  His thesis is balanced and covers all the angles on why Akechi Mitsuhide betrayed the Uesama.  I have learned a lot and his thesis made me understand Mitsuhide's actions more easily.  Schindewolf's bibliography is superb as well.  If it was not for his thesis, I would have never known about the English translation of Ota Gyuichi's Shincho-Ko ki.  He receives major kudos for that.  Hopefully, next year I will cover more on the Honnoji Incident and you can bet I will use Toki wa Ima as the main source.

I was in Japan in October to participate in a Japanese game show called.  Fuji TV Ii ne Nippon ga Daisuki Gaikokujin Grand Prix Sengoku Busho.  The photo is myself in armor and very lucky.  Why?  It was the same armor that was used in the Nobunaga Taiga drama.  I was completely humbled and surprised.  Me and three other people were quizzed on Oda Nobunaga.  Everyone did well since we all knew what we were talking about.   The show was in Japanese which made it more impressive.  Why then us four are the historians of the year?  The answer is simple.  People like ourselves who love Sengoku warfare and its heroes make history more enjoyable.  It is us who visits the battlefields, castles,  and other landmarks.  It is us who reads and studies up on the subject and breathes new life into it.

Tenka no tame!

Okehazama 1965

The Arimatsu Okehazama Battlefield has changed over the years.  The Kajino family gave me this photo of the Okehazama battlefield that was taken in 1965.  The first thing you will notice is that the area has not changed much since the Taisho Era.  It is still very rural and the population small.  This photo can give historians clues on what the battlefield was like and how it was fought.

Now look at the Arimatsu Okehazama Battlefield today.  The geography has completely changed as well as the population.  It is much harder now to get an idea on what the battlefield was like since the area was developed.  That is why the 1965 photo is so important because it does give the historian a better idea on how the battle was fought and looked like during Nobunaga's greatest hour.

Nobunaga no tame!