odaclan

[odaclan]

Thank you to @nexu101 for sharing this article about Matsunaga Hisahide, a refutation of some of the tropes about his villainy.

@tertiusgaudenus This might interest you, in relation to your ask. It's in Japanese, but should still be readable with Google Translate.

#resource #reference #matsunaga hisahide #japanese history #sengoku period #sengoku era #samurai

[odaclan]

Good day. I know it's not exactly your area of interest, but decided to ask anyway. I recently bought and played newest addition to Nobunaga's Ambition title and it had surprisingly sympathetic depiction of Matsunaga Hisahide. I know it is entertained, that stories of his villainy are much exaggerated, but were there any recent academic works to shift depiction of him?

I don't know if there's any particular new discovery academically.

The only thing different in terms of scholarship that I can think of was the relatively recent discovery of Matsunaga's contemporary portrait (I think it was discovered around 2020-2021). Previously, there were only ukiyo-e prints of Matsunaga where he was depicted as looking utterly deranged. The contemporary portrait depicts him very sensibly, and visual imagery has been known to very strongly affect people's perception.

In my personal opinion, it seems like recently creative writers are simply starting to be able to deviate from long-standing tropes. Either through actually using proper historical facts, or simply framing the narrative in an unusual way.

Any action can seem sympathetic as long as you ascribe noble intentions to it, and the same actions can be made to look atrocious if you frame it in a negative manner.

To my knowledge, Matsunaga tends to be portrayed as someone with a terrible character simply because of long-standing fictive precedent. It's not that the facts aren't available. Creatives down the line either don't have the courage to do something different, or not informed enough to separate truth from fiction, or the powers that be are stifling the creators out of fear that deviation from tradition "will not sell".

That's different now. Real facts are more easily available through internet, with even certified historians hosting Youtube channels to share the information with the public. Online services like social media or webnovel sites allow for various unusual ideas to gain popularity, and so publishers and mainstream creators are more willing to have these ideas to be platformed in formal publications.

#reply #matsunaga hisahide

[odaclan]

joushinkatsu-anon once more, lol funny you ask, it was actually me looking through your nobukatsu tag that got me interested in him (i saw him alot while looking through your blog, i think it was something about hideyoshi). its been months now and ive done my own research but because im a beginner in learning japanese i'd thought i ask someone who knows and has access to resources i don't about him. and while i am aware of and play fate grand order (huge gudaguda fan, obviously) i can care less about its interpretation of nobuyuki or nobuyuki in general.

on another note i've recently finished this anime called "nobunaga no shinobi" (officially translated as ninja girl and samurai master) its a cute(?) anime about a ninja girl named chidori becoming nobunaga's ninja, nobukatsu was mentioned in it (though he appears as chasenmaru) so i picked up the manga and he appears there too as an adult in volume 15 (mise incident) and in 19, 20 and 21 (1st and 2nd iga battles) its very cute (art style wise) and i recommend you to check it out if your interested.

Oh okay, then unfortunately I do not have any more interesting stories to tell about him yet. I usually post the things I discover pretty soon after I read about them.

The only material I am aware of that I haven't posted is the stories involving the Europeans (like Luis Frois and others). For example, it was said that during one of Frois's first few visits, Nobunaga himself and his sons served the food and tea. The sons in question were Nobutada and Nobukatsu, and based on the listed date it seems that Nobutaka was already sent off to be adopted by the Kanbe family.

I just don't have the direct quote to share yet, since it's either in the missionary correspondence or Frois's Historia book, and I don't own them. I'm not sure if the missionary correspondence is even purchasable at all.

Historia is available for purchase, but after seeing some papers from a historian saying that the Japanese version is mistranslated in various places, I'm not sure it would be wise to get it. I do still quote from it if I see the excerpts and I have no better better material to quote at the time, but aside from that I'm refraining from getting it for now.

I am familiar with Nobunaga no Shinobi, thank you! Although I have not had the opportunity to read or watch the series.

#reply #oda nobukatsu #anonymous

[odaclan]

joushin-anon here again, thanks for answering. i feel so embarrassed asking so many questions in regards to nobukatsu, but do you have any funny stories that involve him? or maybe his relationship with nobutaka? i only know about their rivalry post nobunaga death and i think nobutaka helped out nobukatsu once during a battle when they were both teenagers (it was more of reinforcements sent out by nobunaga if im remembering correctly) but thats about it. thank you!!

That is quite alright. I enjoy researching and reading about Nobunaga's sons, so I'm happy to share.

It's better if you take a look at my Nobukatsu and Nobutaka tags here in the blog, though! My posts will have better details than if I just try to tell something off the top of my head in a reply.

If you don't mind me asking, what brought on the interest? It's not common to see someone find interest in Nobukatsu who is Nobunaga's son, and not his brother. Kanjuurou Nobukatsu (Nobunaga's brother) had somewhat prominent appearance in mainstream media like the Fate Grand Order game, so I've been seeing people develop interest in him.

#reply #anonymous

[odaclan]

joushin-anon here, thanks for answering, and thats a shame i was hoping there was a little more to it but it makes sense, not much an old man like him can do but just sit around. and yes i was referring to post edo but you mentioning pre-(full installation)-shogunate got me curious. i know he switched sides after sekigahara/summer osaka and worked as a spy for the tokugawa but nothing beyond that. im very interested in these "conspiratorial speculations" youre talking about, any infomation would be greatly appreciated.

That right there about spies is one of the "conspiracy". I at least cannot say that I "know" that he was a spy. That's one of those stories that are floating around online with no clear source.

In the Osaka siege, him and his uncle Urakusai/Yurakusai (Oda Nagamasu) were present there. Articles are sporadic about who of the two are the spy (could be just one, could be both, or maybe it's a hoax altogether). I haven't found the exact documentation verifying where the claims are coming from.

There is a narrative that I can source, which described that Joushin eventually decided to give up whatever position he has there, then fled Osaka in secret. This is might be the situation being referenced in the story I mentioned in my previous reply, where Ieyasu wanted to ensure his safe escape. However, the story presented this only as Ieyasu's respect for his long standing friendship with the Oda family, and so he wanted to "rescue" Nobunaga's son from the siege. It was not because Joushin was "a Tokugawa insider".

Maybe this text is just a "cleaned up" version that doesn't want to admit to "underhanded" tactics like turncoat spies, but either way I still don't know where the story of spies are from.

I'll give the text a closer read, and maybe post a new article here later.

#reply #anonymous #oda nobukatsu

[odaclan]

Nobukatsu's headship of the Oda family after Kiyosu Conference

The state of the Oda clan succession is kind of confusing, with various narratives flying around about what exactly came out of the "Kiyosu Conference". The latest research determined that the official heir is indeed Sanboushi, with Nobutaka and Nobukatsu intended to serve as guardians. The old fashioned narrative of Shibata Katsuie putting up Nobutaka as heir candidate while Hideyoshi supported Sanboushi against him is considered incorrect.

I have finally found more detailed info that seems to confirm the state of the affairs. This is a letter transcript from the 12th month of Tenshou 10 (approximately January 1583):

御状拝見候、よってこの表の儀、三介様御名代に相究め、若子様今日請け取り申し、供奉いたし候、当国不届の仁は曲事に相臥せ、ことごとく一篇に申し付け候条、その御心得あるべく候、はたまた委しき儀森勝申さるべく候、恐〻謹言、 　極月廿一日　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　羽筑秀吉（花押） 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　惟五郎左長秀（花押） 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　池勝恒興（花押） 遠山佐渡守殿 　　　同　半左衛門尉殿 　　　　　　　　　御返報 I have read your letter. The Oda administration has decided to appoint Sansuke-sama (Nobukatsu) as the interim head, and as such he has assumed responsibility for Sanbōshi-sama today and joined the ranks of his vassals. Should there be anyone in Mino who does not accept this, we will bring to heel this individual for unlawfulness, and the whole province shall follow suit. Mori Nagayoshi will relay the further details. Respectfully submitted. 12th Month 21st Day Ha-Chiku Hideyoshi (signature) Kore-Goroza Nagahide (signature) Ike-Shou Tsuneoki (signature) In response to: Tooyama Sado no Kami-dono idem, Hanzaemon no Jou

The transcript is quoted from this post, and I unfortunately cannot find where the artifact is or what it looks like. Presumably this post's author took the transcript from a book.

At some point, I had found articles that claimed that Hideyoshi somehow flipped the Kiyosu Conference decision on a later date. He put up Nobukatsu as the actual new clan head, and sidelined Sanboushi. Wikipedia cites the source of this claim from papers from Aichi prefecture's historical archives.

However, we can see now that the claim is not entirely true. It is stated that clearly, the official head is Sanboushi. Nobukatsu is only serving as the interim head/temporary lord in his stead until he is of age. Still, even as just an interim head and not the actual new lord of the clan replacing Sanboushi, this would put him above Nobutaka. It does make sense why Katsuie and Nobutaka would be offended by this decision, and thus led to the Battle of Shizugatake.

Wikipedia claims that this decision to appoint Nobukatsu as the interim head was actually done in the tenth month, quite interestingly not very long after Hideyoshi wrote this exaggerated letter offering to commit seppuku and "follow Nobunaga to death". The cited paperwork (same as the above Aichi prefecture archive material) is unfortunately still paywalled and cannot be viewed online, so I cannot verify this.

Also, a note on the funny-seeming names in the signatures. It is common for people in this time to abbreviate their names and aliases or titles in that manner in letter signatures. "Ha-Chiku" is Hashiba Chikuzen, "Kore-Goroza" is Korezumi Gorozaemon, and "Ike-Shou" is Ikeda Shouzaburou.

Niwa Nagahide was granted the new surname "Korezumi" when he was promoted in 1575.

Tooyama Sado no Kami is Tooyama Toshikage 遠山利景, a lord who holds territory in Mino Province. Hanzaemon no Jou is his son. Notes in the article mentioned that Edo period chronicles from Iemitsu's reign claimed that the Tooyama family had already pledged to serve the Tokugawa at this time. However, since the original inquiry from the Tooyama side (to which this cited letter is a response) is nowhere to be found, we don't know for certain what's really happening here.

#oda nobukatsu #toyotomi hideyoshi #ikeda tsuneoki #niwa nagahide #oda hidenobu #samurai #sengoku #japanese history #sengoku jidai #sengoku era #sengoku period #warring states era #warring states period #warring states #hashiba hideyoshi #sanboshi #sanboushi #letter

[odaclan]

do you have any information about joshin? ive been trying to find stuff about nobukatsu's later years but only know surface level stuff (bulit a big garden, had a silkworm farm and sold them, and lived a carefree life as an old man etc) though i want to know if theres a little more or if im missing something.

There is nothing much to it. He already retired after the Osaka battles, and even the silkworm farm seemed to have nothing to do with him either. His domains in Obata and Matsuyama were apparently run by his sons and/or vassals, and he himself just lived a retirement life in Kyoto. The garden was built, but he himself didn't even go to see it.

The only interesting thing that happened that I was able to find was that in 1628 Hidetada or Iemitsu invited him for a tea ceremony. By all accounts it appears he just didn't really do anything but just have a relaxed retirement once the Edo government is settled.

The cited materials are books and government documents that isn't free to view on the libraries I usually use, unfortunately. I actually have to have some sort of verified registration to look at it, so if there's actually more info in there, I can't see.

Now, if you're asking for Joushin in the time before Hideyoshi's death, Sekigahara, or the Osaka battles, there has been a lot of conspiratorial speculations there.

I will need to pull up the reference later, but I remembered reading in passing a story from one of the Tokugawa chronicles where Ieyasu told his vassals to make sure to get Nobukatsu out of Osaka safely. Tokugawa chronicles are propaganda so aren't entirely reliable, but if this one happens to be truthful, then it supports the version of narrative where he was present in Osaka during the Summer or Winter campaign.

#anonymous #reply #oda nobukatsu

[odaclan]

There will be a renewed excavation project planned for Azuchi Castle, and is estimated will last for the next 20 years.

For some reason the excavation of the Azuchi premises is not done regularly. The last project ended in 2009, and since then it has not been updated until now (the project started in October this year).

They're hoping to be able to make enough progress in the research to create a better AR/VR model of Azuchi Castle for its 450th anniversary in 2026.

#azuchi castle #castle #azuchi #japanese castle #japanese history #modern news

[odaclan]

Ieyasu's reception in Azuchi hosted by Mitsuhide, Shinchoukouki Account

It just occurred to me that I never did post what the Shinchoukouki account say about Ieyasu's reception that Mitsuhide did.

And now, Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu traveled to the metropolitan provinces to express his gratitude to Nobunaga, as did Anayama Baisetsu. Declaring that these visitors must be treated with the utmost hospitality, Nobunaga issued the following orders: “First of all, fix the highways. Daimyo holding provinces and those holding districts—go to the places where our guests will be lodging, make sure that everything is prepared as splendidly as possible, and give them a feast!” [...]

[...] On the 15th of the Fifth Month, Lord Ieyasu left Banba and arrived at Azuchi. Nobunaga had decided that the Taihōbō Rectory would make a suitable place for Ieyasu to stay and ordered Koretō Hyūga no Kami (Mitsuhide) to take care of the entertainment. Koretō laid in the most unusual delicacies in Kyoto and Sakai and organized a stupendously magnificent feast, which lasted for three days from the 15th to the 17th.

(The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga, page 463-464)

That was it. No problems were described, and everything seems to be great. Then Hideyoshi's report of the Mouri army came in, and Mitsuhide was sent away to prepare to march out.

The host duties for the rest of Ieyasu's visit was taken over by someone else, naturally, but not necessarily because Mitsuhide did anything wrong.

Advancing from Aki Province with their forces, Mōri, Kikkawa, and Kobayakawa took up positions confronting Hashiba in the field. [...] Nobunaga sent itemized orders to Hashiba Chikuzen’s camp. Then he designated Koretō Hyūga no Kami (Mitsuhide), Nagaoka Yoichirō, Ikeda Shōzaburō, Shiokawa Kitsudayū, Takayama Ukon, and Nakagawa Sehyōe to spearhead the offensive, and immediately gave them leave. On the 17th of the Fifth Month, Koretō Hyūga no Kami returned from Azuchi to his castle at Sakamoto. Each and every one of the others likewise went back to his home province and prepared for the campaign.

(The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga, page 464)

There were actually other issues that did occur in this visit, namely a Noh dancer did not perform well and Nobunaga threw a huge fit over it (with Ieyasu still there watching, apparently). However, it was after Mitsuhide had already gone and it has nothing to do with him. The dance incident happened on the 19th, and Mitsuhide already left on the 17th as shown above.

Something I'm a bit curious about is that the Azuchi Castle historical maps had labelled a site as "Ieyasu-kou's residence", located across from Hideyoshi's residence. When I searched for the Taihoubou, it appeared to be located in the town area, and not part of the castle complex like the vassal residences.

I wonder if Ieyasu brought so many attendants that he had to be lodged in a different residence that is bigger? The marked site of Ieyasu's residence, based on the remaining foundation stones, seems to be on the smaller side.

#oda nobunaga #tokugawa ieyasu #akechi mitsuhide #japanese history #sengoku #sengoku period #sengoku jidai #sengoku era #samurai #samurai history #shinchoukouki #the chronicle of lord nobunaga

[odaclan]

Since this was also mentioned in the article with the Frois citation, I thought I'd revisit this.

Back when I first posted this clip, someone had asked if this was based on true account (the comment seems to have since disappeared, so maybe the person deactivated their Tumblr).

It was indeed based on a reliable account, as it was mentioned both in the Shinchoukouki and in the diary of Matsudaira Ietada (a Tokugawa vassal).

I really feel silly to have forgotten this was there, but here's the passage from the English translation of the Shinchoukouki:

On the 20th of the Fifth Month, Nobunaga ordered Korezumi Gorōzaemon (Niwa Nagahide), Hori Kyūtarō, Hasegawa Take, and Suganoya Kuemon to prepare a feast for Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu. A chamber of the Kōunji Palace was where Lord Ieyasu, Anayama Baisetsu, Ishikawa Hōki, Sakai Saemon no Jō, and their house elders were served a meal. Lord Nobunaga himself placed the trays before his guests, a gracious act indeed, and their reverence for him was out of the ordinary.

(The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga, page 465-466)

Someone posted a clip featuring Nobunaga from the Naotora Taiga. 

The context of the scene was the famous story where Mitsuhide blundered when in charge of a banquet to welcome Ieyasu. After that, apparently in the drama Nobunaga decided to then personally serve Ieyasu’s meal himself. Naturally Ieyasu and his vassals becomes mortified by it. 

#tokugawa ieyasu #oda nobunaga #japanese history #shinchoukouki #the chronicle of lord nobunaga

[odaclan]

The infamous "Mitsuhide hitting/kicking incident", as recorded by Luis Frois

This is taken from the Japanese translation of Luis Frois's Historia, which has been criticised for unfortunately containing mistranslated texts in various parts (examples included inserting arbitrary Japanese words when Frois originally recorded no Japanese words, and inserting arbitrary colour descriptors that wasn't in the original).

I don't know if the translation has been revised since, so this account might be somewhat flawed if it was taken from the old version, but for the time being this is what I have.

信長は…その権力と地位をいっそう誇示すべく、三河の国王（徳川家康）と、甲斐国の主将たちのために饗宴を催すことに決め、その盛大な招宴の接待役を彼（光秀）に下命した。これらの催し事の準備について、信長はある密室において明智と語っていたが、元来、逆上しやすく、自らの命令に対して反対（意見）を言われることに堪えられない性質であったので、人々が語るところによれば、彼（信長）の好みに合わぬ要件で、明智が言葉を返すと、信長は立ち上がり、怒りをこめ、一度か二度、明智を足蹴にしたということである。だが、それは秘かになされたことであり、二人だけの間での出来事だったので、後々まで民衆の噂に残ることはなかったが、あるいはこのことから明智は何らかの根拠を作ろうと欲したのかも知れぬし、あるいは[おそらくこの方がより確実だと思われるが]、その過度の利欲と野心が募り、ついにはそれが天下の主になることを彼（光秀）に望ませるまでになったのかもわからない。（ともかく）彼はそれを胸中深く秘めながら、企てた陰謀を果す適当な時機をひたすら窺っていたのである。 Nobunaga… in order to further display his power and position, decided to hold a feast for the king of Mikawa (Tokugawa Ieyasu) and the generals of Kai Province, and the role of the host was tasked to him (Mitsuhide). Nobunaga had a discussion with Akechi in a private room about the preparations for these events, but being someone who was by nature easily offended and could not bear to be spoken against, people say that when Akechi replied to him (Nobunaga) with things not to his liking, Nobunaga stood up and kicked Akechi once or twice in anger. However, this incident was private, where only the two of them bore witness to it, and it didn't become a publicly known rumour until later. Perhaps Akechi wanted to establish justification from this, or [perhaps more reasonably], his excessive greed and ambition rose, such that it finally led him [Mitsuhide] to desire to become the master of the land. (Anyway), he kept this deep in his heart, waiting for the right moment to carry out his plot.

(the quoted passage taken from this article)

Luis Frois pretty clearly did not like Mitsuhide, maybe because Nobunaga's death robbed the Europeans of the security that they had under his reign. In his letters and Historia, Frois repeatedly describes Mitsuhide as cunning, and that all his well-seeming actions were only to cover up his treacherous intentions.

That being said, this is one of the very few actually contemporary accounts of such an incident happening. The story that was frequently seen in dramas and movies, that Mitsuhide got beat up due to accidentally serving rotten food to Ieyasu, was from the Ehon Taikouki that was created in the Edo period. This narrative might have been an exaggerated version from the account in the Kawasumi Taikouki (itself already a rather late date account), where Mitsuhide was dismissed because of the rotten food, but was not beat up.

Because the incident of Mitsuhide being beat up by Nobunaga—or by another vassal under Nobunaga's orders— cannot be found in contemporary and reliable accounts, various researchers have considered that story to be dubious.

If there really was an incident where Mitsuhide was hit, then it might have happened at another occasion and not during Ieyasu's visit to Azuchi.

#oda nobunaga #akechi mitsuhide #luis frois #historia de japam #japanese history #sengoku #sengoku period #sengoku era #samurai #samurai history

[odaclan]

In “defense” of the Enryakuji invasion

This is the clash of two military and political powers that finally came to a head, not a one-sided oppression

When people cite the invasion of Enryakuji to accuse Nobunaga of all sorts of horrible things, it’s usually because they were under the impression that an unreasonably large number of people were killed, or that it was an oppressive massacre against a community that weren’t posing a threat.

It’s very unfortunate that it’s very rarely clearly explained to the general public that Enryakuji has armed forces. In a lot of ways it’s almost functioning like a samurai lord’s castle, inhabited by both warriors and civilians alike. They also had massive political power and influence. They’re not a quiet little temple whose inhabitants were peaceful or helpless.

The warrior monks of Enryakuji themselves have committed massacres and invasions. They do not accept other sects rivalling them, either out of genuine religious zealotry and considering the other sects “heretics”, or because they  simply want to maintain their sect’s influence and authority in Kyoto. They were not politically neutral, nor were they pacifists. 

(A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism, page 178)

I emphasise the part where it says the Enryakuji warriors wrecked Kyoto so badly, it’s equal to -- or even worse than -- the destruction in Kyoto when the Onin War broke out. These monks are vicious and violent. 

They were still meddling in politics and battle in Nobunaga’s time. During Nobunaga’s battles with the Azai and Asakura, these monks joined in the forces opposing Nobunaga. They took part in besieging Usayama Castle, which resulted in the death of one of Nobunaga’s brothers and some other senior vassals. 

The killing of thousands of combatants and civilians alike regularly happens when any one lord invades another territory. There are no stipulations to spare civilians. If a lord decided to evacuate civilians first before the invasion, then it is a benevolent act. Otherwise, civilian casualties is just a fact of life in that time period.

In which case, how is Nobunaga’s invasion any different than, say, the occasion where Nobunaga invaded Mino and conquered the Saitou? That's rarely, if ever at all, cited that as an example of cruelty. That was just a battle. 

There is no reason to be especially horrified about this Enryakuji incident above any other battle or invasion. This is nothing about this battle that more morally outrageous than what every samurai commander regularly do when engaging another samurai in battle. 

I would grant that many people may think that any mass-death is automatically horrible, and perhaps no amount of reasoning and justification can make the Hieizan invasion and burning defensible. There is no denying that thousands of people were killed in Enryakuji. It’s fine if one were to still condemn this even after knowing the circumstances. Still, knowing and understanding the context matters.

The Hieizan situation only looks different than a regular castle invasion because Enryakuji has the facade and still does operate as a temple. There is something about religious sites that inherently invokes the image of sacredness after all, regardless of the faith, and the general public tends to view them differently than a regular fortress or castle.

It is true that there were contemporary Sengoku writers who severely criticised Nobunaga for his actions. However, for the Japanese at the time, Enryakuji is a holy site with immensely deep cultural and spiritual significance. Not just the temple, but the whole mountain itself. No matter how justified Nobunaga was, or even if nobody was killed, people were going to be up in arms about it simply for the fact that Hieizan was targeted.

Think of the time when the Notre Dame caught on fire. People from all over the world were horrified. Imagine how much worse would it be if, say, there’s a fire in the Vatican. That’s what it was like for the people there at the time.

On top of that, the chief priest of Enryakuji also happens to be the emperor’s brother. This invasion can be perceived to be disrespectful to the imperial court. It only worsens the uproar surrounding this situation, which then supposedly led to the dramatic letter where Nobunaga calls himself the Dairokuten Maou in a spiteful reply to Shingen’s letter rebuking him in the name of the chief priest. 

An additional point in the “defense” is the numbers. For some reason there is a claim that 20 thousand were killed in the Enryakuji invasion. I have yet to find the exact source of this information. Wikipedia and other online articles cite Stephen Turnbull’s book, but I cannot find corroboration for this claim in the original historical documents. 

Shinchoukouki said "many thousands” and did not specify a number, and Luis Frois recorded that he was told around 3000 were killed (about 1500 combatants, and 1500 civilians). 

(They Came to Japan: An Anthology of European Reports on Japan, 1543-1640, page 99)

The claim of 20 thousand people killed also does not make sense as, supposedly, there weren’t even 10 thousand people inhabiting the Enryakuji complex in Hieizan at the time. How can the dead amount to more than double the actual number of inhabitants? 

Lastly, there’s also reports from on-site research that claims that, as of 1980s, they weren’t able to find “proof” of massacre or mass-burning. They have yet to find the human remains of the dead, nor expansive traces of burning in the soil. The burning traces that was discovered were very minimal, compared to the narrative of “the whole mountain was up in flames”. On top of that, there were existing textual records describing many of the buildings were already dilapidated and abandoned as of 1570, and so even if they were burnt, there were no casualty or major losses.

However, this is a decades old report and I haven’t seen any certified updates on this yet. To be able to make a definitive claim, they would have to conduct a scan of the whole mountain, which is difficult to do.

#japanese history #enryakuji #enryaku-ji #hieizan #hiei-zan #mount hiei #mt hiei #oda nobunaga #sengoku #Sengoku period #Sengoku Era #Warring states #Warring States Era #Warring States Period #nobunaga oda #samurai

[odaclan]

Back when the cast photos were released, I commented that I thought the costume department dressed up Nobukatsu in an outfit that is meant to be reminiscent of the classic Nobunaga painting in green, white, and red outfit.

I hadn't been entirely sure, then, because the lighting made the green "vest" look a little yellowish, but in the actual scenes it's more clearly visible that it's green.

I also mentioned that I think he looks very much like Sometani's Nobunaga from the Kirin ga Kuru drama.

Dousuru's Nobukatsu was wearing is some sort sleeveless attire that is tied in the middle, as opposed to a the standard kataginu depicted in the Nobunaga painting. In Kirin, Nobunaga most often wears a doubuku (Sengoku era haori), which has that exact same cloth ties, so I was wondering if it was done with the intention of emphasising the resemblance.

However, Ieyasu also wears this exact same stringed "vest" in Dousuru, so perhaps I was actually wrong.

On the subject of attire, though.

That "vest" with the strings to tie it close, which is called chanchan or denchi, is actually not only quite anachronistic (dates to at least the late 1600s or 1700s Edo period), but very pedestrian. It's worn by street hawkers and peddlers, and it was said to have been "invented" because the sleeves of normal haori or doubuku would just get in the way of them working.

It's highly popularised as the costume of "Mitokoumon", when he's out in "commoner disguise", and also a classic special birthday gifts for senior citizens (for "special numbered" ages like 60, 70, 80, etc).

Taiga drama isn't necessarily the most historically accurate when it comes to costumes, but I am kind of curious if there's a special reason behind this or if it's just "it looks nice". NHK's website every now and then posts the concept art for the costumes and sometimes they would go into details for the reasoning behind specific designs.

#dousuru ieyasu #nhk drama #nhk taiga drama #nhk #taiga drama #dou suru ieyasu #oda nobukatsu #hamano kenta #clothing #costume

[odaclan]

Mori Ran Naritoshi, not “Ranmaru”

I originally mentioned this in a little addendum in an older post about Nobutada, but I want to add some more details just about this matter.

Nobunaga’s young vassal, famously known in media as “Mori Ranmaru”, may not actually be named that at all in reality. "Ranmaru” was the name that was written down in later-date records and compilation of tales that may or may not be accurate. In contemporary Sengoku documents, as well as his own correspondence, his name was written as just “Ran” 乱 or “Ran’houshi/Ranboushi” 乱法師. 

It’s unclear if the above is his childhood name or his alias.

Some websites, both in english and Japanese, sometimes claim his adult name having been “Nagasada”長定. This is apparently based on the 18th century document  Kansei Chouchuu Shokafu 寛政重修諸家譜, a compilation of the family records made by the shogunate in the Kansei era (1789-1801).

However, the Shinchoukouki records his name as “Naritoshi” 成利. In the temple Kongouji in Osaka and a museum in Tateyama, there were also artefacts of Ran’s own handwriting, where he signed his own name as “Mori Ran Naritoshi”. 

Sadly I was only able to find personally-made transcripts of these, and not the actual pictures. Some museums prohibit photography, and not all of them are willing to showcase photos of their exhibits online.

There was an ukiyo-e where Ranmaru’s name was written as “Nagayasu”, but this is historically irrelevant. This is part of the very same series of heroic ukiyo-e prints that wrote Nobunaga’s name as “Oota Harunaga”, and so it’s only reasonable to assume that the names written on it are not necessarily correct. 

For some reason some of the names in this ukiyo-e series were “censored” while others were not (e.g Mitsunari became Kishida Mitsunari, but Hideyoshi was still “Toyotomi Hideyoshi”), so this is not a reliable account of names.

There’s also the trope of “Ran” being written as 蘭 (”orchid”) rather than 乱, as also seen in the ukiyo-e above. However, these are all done in later-date documents. As mentioned earlier, the lad wrote his own name as 乱. Some people have suggested that even in the early Edo period, his character was already romanticised as a “beautiful, but gallant youth”. This kanji was then used to further “beautify” his image. 

There is a claim of proof of this, which I haven’t yet been able to verify. An article once said that a certain historical account (I believe it was one of the many Taikouki variations) had Ran’s name written with 乱, but a copy of the same text written decades later had replaced the name with 蘭. Both copies were discovered, and the experts found that except for that one name, everything else were the same. 

(”Ranmaru” is still used in the blog tags for the sake of ease for searching and/or newcomers)

#Mori Ranmaru #mori ran #mori ran naritoshi #ranmaru #japanese history #sengoku #samurai

[odaclan]

Were the infamous skulls actually “skulls” or “heads”?

Some time ago, I was browsing the Unification/Azuchi-Momoyama volume of Kadokawa’s educational manga series on Japanese history. In a rather unique move, the scene of the presentation of Azai and Asakura’s heads depicted the whole heads gilded in gold instead of the usual skulls.

Indeed, the Shinchoukouki describes the heads as 首 kubi, which is the term used to usually mean heads. The description of the skull had come from the Azai Sandaiki, which mentioned that the heads had been “stripped of the flesh” before the lacquering.

The Azai Sandaiki was considered not entirely reliable, and the Japanese encyclopaedia labels it as more of a book of fables and folklore rather than a certified historical account. It makes sense that whoever worked on this manga then thought that maybe the heads are just heads based on the Shinchoukouki.

However, just because the Shinchoukouki doesn’t say “skulls”, doesn’t mean that they aren’t skulls. There are various words for “skull” (髑髏, 曝頭, 曝首, etc), but they’re not necessarily daily vocabulary that people would normally use at the time. 

So, if the Azai Sandaiki is not wholly reliable and the Shinchoukouki wasn’t clear, were they actually skulls or heads, though?

I personally believe that the answer is “skulls”.

Here is why I believe that it makes more sense for the heads to be cleaned down to skulls before lacquering and gold leafing them: 

The Azai father and son and Asakura Yoshikage were killed around September-October of 1573. After which, the heads were put in public display in Kyoto, where they were probably exposed to the weather and perhaps animals or insects. 

Asakura Shikibu no Daibu brought Yoshikage’s head to the Ryūmonji in Fuchū [...] Nobunaga entrusted Yoshikage’s head to Hasegawa Sōnin, who brought it to Kyoto, where it was put on exhibition. (The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga, page 198)

Nobunaga sent the heads of the Azai, father and son, up to Kyoto, where they were put on display at a prison gate [...]  (The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga, page 199)

This narration is corroborated by the existence of a letter Nobutada had sent, describing that Asakura’s head was being delivered to Kyoto for presentation (the letter was sent before the Oda army defeated the Azai).

While there’s no description of how long were they put on display for, it’s quite likely that they were going to be there for quite a while. These head displays were meant to serve as a proclamation of achievement and/or warning, after all.

By the time of the 1574 presentation, the heads had probably already deteriorated, and shall we say it’s not going to be a pretty sight? 

It has been argued that what Nobunaga did was a form of the head presentation ceremonies typically done with enemy heads post-battle. This ceremony highly values aesthetics, and it’s demanded for fresh heads to be washed, perfumed, and even decorated with makeup. 

Even supposing it actually isn’t a formal “head presentation”, the three heads were being displayed in a banquet. Skulls are going to be much more presentable than deteriorated heads (surely we all know zombies look horrible), and so I consider it to be the more likely option. 

Not to mention that there is also the additional possibility of the heads wearing down to the bones naturally, precisely because of having been exposed to the elements. Perhaps, then, when the Oda vassals retrieved them from their “display” in Kyoto, they were already turned into skulls.

#japanese history #samurai #sengoku #Sengoku Era #Sengoku period #oda nobunaga #Azai Nagamasa #Azai Hisamasa #Asakura Yoshikage #azai sandaiki #shinchoukouki

[odaclan]

Tonio Andrade has a paper on the subject of Chinese use of the rotating volley gunfire in the 1560s, and it is available for free on Academia.Edu. I believe you only need to register an account there, and you can just download it without any other requirements.

I referenced his research in one of my previous posts, though I quoted an account from earlier centuries. This paper is quite short, focused on specifically the 1560s Ming China use.

He did reference Nagashino briefly here, though he didn't seem to go into the possibility of Japan having learned of this technique from China. His point was just that China was probably the earliest known civilisation to use the rotating volley shots, before Japan and Europe.

Still an interesting read!

#reference #resource #China #Chinese history

[odaclan]

There was a a letter from Nobukatsu addressed to Ieyasu that made news last April, but I didn't catch this news then. Thankfully the article is archived in a lot of places (many news sites these days paywall old articles, or delete them altogether).

The letter is dated the Tenth Month of Tenshou 13 (November 1585), and it mentioned how Ieyasu had sent his vassal Ishikawa Kazumasa to Hideyoshi to negotiate. The rest was interpreted to be Nobukatsu trying to persuade Ieyasu to stand down and not try to raise arms against Hideyoshi, assuring Ieyasu that Hideyoshi will regard Ieyasu's concerns carefully in the proceedings.

At this point Hideyoshi is already the Kanpaku, having received the title and rank in the seventh month of the same year.

The news report also narrates that history recorded Ieyasu still persisting in trying to fight Hideyoshi, despite this mediation. Ieyasu only ceased his plans and agreed to surrender because a massive earthquake hit in the 11th month of the same year, causing large-scale devastation in multiple provinces.

Many castles collapsed because of the earthquake, and there's further complications because of landslides, tsunami, and fires that occurred in the aftermath. With all the domain lords likely tied up trying to do damage control in their territories, there's no way to start a war at this time.

Nobukatsu visited Ieyasu in the first month of the next year (February 1586), and Ieyasu expressed his intention to agree to surrender then.

#oda nobukatsu #artifact #letter #tokugawa ieyasu #japanese history #samurai #sengoku #sengoku jidai #sengoku era #sengoku period #warring states era #warring states period #warring states #toyotomi hideyoshi #hashiba hideyoshi