This is another passage from Okanoya Shigezane and it quite a good one. The story involves Nobunaga playing games when he was a kid and gave away gifts on those who did well. The kids knew that young Nobunaga would be a great warlord someday. One reason because Nobunaga made it a policy to reward those on merit, not on lineage.
A Stone-Throwing Game: Translated by Andrew and Yoshiko Dykstra.
(pp. 28-29)
"The young Nobunaga, called Kipposhi, studied with forty or fifty children at a temple of Kiyosu. In his youth, on the fifth of May [which is Boy's Day], he used to love to play a stone-throwing game called injiuchi with other children who were divided into two teams called East and West.
For the occasion, his mother used to send him gifts including writing brushes, ink cakes, paper, three to of rice and one kan of Eiraku coins. Nobunaga gave the coins to the children who did well in the game. Thus he gave away all the gifts to the children according to their merits in the game, and did not keep any for himself. Those who watched this were all impressed, saying, 'This child will surely become a great lord and general.'"
Here are two links related to the archaeological work being done at Gifu Castle.
http://www.nobunaga-kyokan.jp/blog/archives/2011/06/post_98.html
http://www.nobunaga-kyokan.jp/blog/archives/2011/06/post_99.html
Nobunaga no tame!
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