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!

Random News

There has been more discoveries of late at the Gifu Castle Nobunaga Mansion excavation work of late. Here is a link to the site (Link is in Japanese):

http://www.nobunaga-kyokan.jp/blog/archives/2012/11/post_116.html

We are learning something new on a daily basis on what Nobunaga's mansion looked like while living in Gifu.  With his mansion looked very similar to Kyoto's Kinkakuji and more gardens and the like discovered, it seems that his mansion was simply awesome during its day.

Photo above is Nobunaga's Mansion Ruins at Gifu Castle Park.  Well worth the time to visit.

Tenka no tame!

Nobunaga and Kyoto

When Nobunaga made his visit to Kyoto in 1559 to meet with shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru.  During this trip he made visits to Nara and Sakai.  However, when Nobunaga became the most feared man in Japan, he headed back to Kyoto in 1568 along with soon to be shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki.  Nobunaga's Kyoto lodging was at Toji (picture above).  During his long military career, Nobunaga lodged at various temples or mansions in Kyoto.   There are two valuable resources that includes the Uesama's Kyoto lodgings, the Shincho-Ko ki and Kawauchi Masayoshi's book Nobunaga ga Mita Sengoku Kyoto.

Kawauchi on page 159 has a list on where and when Nobunaga lodged at Kyoto.  He ends up using the Shincho-Ko ki as the main source.  Here is a list on where Nobunaga stayed and how many times.

• Toji-1
• Roan in Upper Kyoto-1
• Mushannokoji in Upper Kyoto (Nobunaga never got to use this facility due to hostilities between him and Yoshiaki.  Yoshiaki gave orders to destroy it and quality of lumber was taken by all who was able to attain it.)
• Myokakuji-16
• Shokokuji-3
• Honnoji-5
• Nijo-10

If anything that stands out is that Nobunaga lodged more times at Myokakuji than any other place in Kyoto.  Honnoji would later be his pied-a-terre.

Nobunaga no tame!

Odaka no michi

While I was in Japan last month, I was able to visit the Okehazama battlefield again to do more research.  This photo here is the Odaka no michi which Matsudaira Motoyasu (Tokugawa Ieyasu) used this road to deliver supplies to Odaka Castle.  The road is old, small, and narrow.  In fact, the Okehazama Research center is on the left side of the road and Mr. Okehazama's house is on the right.  You can feel like you are in the footsteps of Matsudaira Motoyasu delivering supplies to Odaka.  This was a rare treat.  I always learn something new while visiting the Okehazama battlefield no matter how many times I have been there.

Later, I was able to have a long chat with Mr. Okehazama, Yukio Kajino, and his son Akitsugu.  Various topics discussed were tactics, both the Arimatsu and Toyoake battlefields, The Men of the Fields, Ota Gyuichi and Oze Hoan's biographies on Nobunaga, and how the Battle of Okehazama changed Sengoku Japan forever.  In addition to visiting the Okehazama battlefied, we made a brief stop at the Fort Muraki ruins where Nobunaga fought the Imagawa in 1554 and won.  I suggest anyone who has the free time and is visiting the Okehazama area to visit the Fort Muraki landmark.  I would like to express my thanks for the Kajino family for taking their time to show me new things related to the Battle of Okehazama.

Tenka no tame!

Nobunaga, the sportsman

If you really do your research on the Uesama, you will find out that he was quite an active person.  Besides the war front, he was active in various activities that would call him a modern sportsman.  For example, he loved to swim, shoot the matchlock rifle, archery and ride horses.  He also loved to set up horses races as well. He fished and hunted in the countryside and was superb at falconry, one of favorite hobbies.  He enjoyed sumo and the tea ceremony.

The Uesama was truly unique in his activities and he was definitely a sportsman during his time.


Nobunaga no tame!