The Oda Family

A variety of trivia about warlord Oda Nobunaga and his family, as well as their portrayals in various media and pop culture.

[odaclan]

Letter from Oda Nobutada. The museum site doesn't say who is it addressed to or the date of the letter, but the gist of the content is it's a letter of thanks for having been gifted with umbrella (not clear if it's one or many). He says "as always" he is grateful of the gift and he will keep it forever.

Since it seems to be a repeat gift I wonder if it may have been someone close, like a relative or a long-time vassal. Letters of that era is always ridiculously polite and flowery like this it's hard to tell the level of relationship between the correspondents.

[odaclan]

A mysterious "monkey" vassal: Is that Hideyoshi?

Quite a while ago I discovered a footnote in a book claiming that Nobunaga had once called Hideyoshi a monkey for real. It was in a letter that was recorded in Oda Nobunaga Monjo no Kenkyū 織田信長文書の研究, a collection of Nobunaga-related documents edited/compiled by by Okuno Takahiro.

After digging around, I was able to find someone quoting the contents of the letter:

 猿帰候て、夜前之様子具言上候、先以可然候、 　又一□を差遣候、其面無油断雖相聞候、猶以可入勢候、 　各辛労令察候、今日之趣徳□ニ可申越候也、 　　　　　三月十五日　　（天下布武朱印） 　　　長岡兵部大輔とのへ 　　　惟住五郎左衛門尉とのへ 　　　滝川左近とのへ 　　　惟任日向守とのへ

(quoted by blogger Kirino Sakuto, second citation from Kokka Ankou saying the same thing, and we assume the bloggers has transcribed the content correctly)

Bunshun Online has a modern transcription for the letter, which translates to something to the effect of this:

The monkey returned, and gave a detailed report of what transpired the night before. First and foremost, everything is in due course. I will also be sending out Ichi-[]. On that end, while I have heard that it's necessary to be cautious, we must continue to build the momentum. I am aware of the hardships you have gone through. Convey today's matter to Toku-[]. 15th day of the 3rd month [Red seal] Nagaoka Hyoubu Daibu (Hosokawa Fujitaka) Korezumi Gorozaemon (Niwa Nagahide) Takikawa Sakon (Takigawa Kazumasu) Koretoo Hyuuga no Kami (Akechi Mitsuhide)

The names Ichi-[] and Toku-[] in the original seems to be names that are hard to read or possibly distorted from dirt/age. I don't know for sure since the bloggers did not post pictures of the original documents.

I'm not entirely sure what Nobunaga meant about everything being in due course without clear context, but the Bunshun text explains that it basically means Nobunaga approves of whatever the 4 people had done, as reported to him.

Kirino-san had mentioned a reference to Menkou Shuuroku 綿考輯録, a Hosokawa family document. The text supposedly mentioned that this letter is from 1578, and the unclear names were written as Ichiwaka and Tokuwaka.

The Shinchoukouki confirms that Nagahide, Mitsuhide, and Kazumasu were sent to Tanba in the fourth month of 1578, while there was supposedly another letter artifact sending Fujitaka out in the 4th of the 3rd month.

So, even if that part kind of fits, the problem here is that we actually don't know for certain "monkey" is Hideyoshi. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't.

"Ichiwaka" was a name that was supposedly mentioned in Taikou Soseiki 太閤素生記, a Hideyoshi biography, as someone who was from Hideyoshi's village. However, you could argue that the author of Soseiki made up this narrative about Hideyoshi and this "Ichiwaka" person precisely because they were aware of this letter. The Soseiki cannot be confirmed as a fully reliable material after all.

Tokuwaka was supposedly also mentioned in another letter that Hideyoshi had sent, but this doesn't confirm or prove definitively that "monkey" is Hideyoshi. For all we know this "monkey" is actually the literal name of some other person and perhaps intended to be read as "Mashira" or something or the other.

We do know that Nobunaga had called Hideyoshi a bald rat flat out, but that was in a letter addressed to Hideyoshi's wife. Calling Hideyoshi a monkey while addressing other vassals like this is... well, interesting to say the least.

One of the technical issue about this being Hideyoshi is that Hideyoshi is out fighting elsewhere in the third month of 1578, so him reporting to Nobunaga about the other 4 commanders makes no sense.

However, it could be Hideyoshi if the letter is actually referring to another year, such as 1577. In the 3rd month of that year, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and the other 4 named commanders were all together in a campaign fighting the Saika warriors in Kii Province.

The Menkou Shuuroku was compiled in the late 1700s. As it is a manual copy made based on earlier documents, there is strong possibility that the dates are recorded incorrectly.

The Shinchoukouki says that during the Kii campaign, the Oda forces had split up the army to go in different directions. In the beginning of the 3rd month Nobunaga ordered the 4 people named in the letter to attack Suzuki Magoichi's castle, and by the third week of the month, Magoichi and many others surrendered. The text skips out 2 weeks' worth of events, including the 15th date in question, so we don't really know what's happening there. However, I personally think the "keep up the momentum" message in the letter fits the situation.

Maybe Hideyoshi was done with his side of the mission and regrouped with the others, then reported on the situation to Nobunaga in the main camp. It would make a lot of sense for the letter to be one that is encouraging the army there to keep up their pressure on their attack in the Suzuki clan's castle, especially if Magoichi maybe had really been one of the more powerful lords in the region as the legends say.

If this "monkey" really was referring to Hideyoshi, then what do you know! All those scenes in fiction media where Nobunaga just kept casually calling Hideyoshi a monkey all the time as a joke may be valid after all.

[odaclan]

織田信長の朱印状 約100年ぶりに見つかる 滋賀 東近江 | NHK

【NHK】滋賀県の東近江市は、市内の百済寺で所在がわからなくなっていた織田信長の朱印状が、およそ100年ぶりに見つかったと発表しま…

A Nobunaga red sealed letter found in Hyakusaiji, a temple in the city of Higashiōmi, Shiga Prefecture. The news says that it actually has been known 100 years ago, but people lost track of it and was recently found again.

It says that the letter was dated Eiroku 11, or approximately 1568, and was considered one of the earlier examples of Nobunaga using the Tenka Fubu seal.

The letter is signed with 弾正忠 Danjō no Jō, the title Nobunaga had at the time, instead of the name "Nobunaga". The paper however has a label saying 信長公 Nobunaga-kō on the outside. This seems to be a label added by whoever was safekeeping this artifact, since I don't believe it's customary to add extra names like this on the outside.

I personally haven't actually ever seen pictures of artifacts where Nobunaga signs the letter with his titles, so this is very fascinating to me. I know they exist from transcripts in books and articles, but this is the first time I'm seeing it in picture.

[odaclan]

Some more accounts of "Nobunaga's birthday celebration"

Something that seems curious to me is that Jean Crasset's History of Japan says that Nobunaga orders his citizens to celebrate his birthday in February.

Crasset wrote his text based on Luis Frois's writings (and possibly the other letters from Cartas), but James Murdoch cites that what Frois wrote were actually these:

From what I understand, this means that:

People are meant to come to visit the temple every month on the date of the birthday

There is a special birthday event that happens on the actual birthday date and month, which is in the fifth month

I've never heard of anyone ever making a claim that Nobunaga was born in February, but I'm assuming what Crasset meant was that the order was initially given out in February, but people are supposed to make monthly visits from that time onwards.

It would've been more helpful to have Frois's Historia in full to compare, but it's not easy to get a copy of those since it's not free/public domain.

[odaclan]

News: Oda Nobunaga's Toilet Discovered?

Stone Tub Found Buried in the Remains of Azuchi Castle’s Former Honmaru

They're not actually sure what this item is meant to be used for, but it could be a toilet. It's kind of funny.

[odaclan]

Did Nobunaga really have iron-plated warships?

In 1578, Nobunaga constructed massive warships in preparation for his war against Honganji. There were rumours and narratives floating around that these warships were somehow covered in metal plates, perhaps as means to protect against the Mouri and Murakami's "bombs" (焙烙火矢 hourokuhiya, ceramic balls packed with gunpowder and used as bombs/grenades).

This supposed iron ships had been featured in a number of works of fiction, and supposedly the source of it was the Tamon'in Diary, an account that was otherwise considered fairly reliable. However, it is uncertain if the person who wrote the entry was actually there to see it.

The eyewitness account that we do have is from one of the many Jesuit missionary letters (compiled in a collection I usually refer to as "Cartas"):

LETTER FROM FATHER ORGANTINO OF MIAKO - P.415 I have already written to Your Reverence about the news of this land, and what happened most recently is that yesterday, the day of the main festival in Japan, seven ships belonging to Nobunaga, which he had built in the Kingdom of Ise, arrived in Sakai. They are the largest and most beautiful in all of Japan, as large, it seems, as our kingdom‘s ships. I went to see them and was amazed that such a thing is done in Japan. Nobunaga ordered them to be built to be placed right at the mouth of the Osaka River, with which he has been at war for four years, so that no ships carrying aid or supplies could enter. And indeed, it seems that with this the city of Osaka will be completely destroyed. They bring three large artillery shots, something I cannot imagine where it could have come from, because, apart from some small shots that the king of Bungo had cast, we know for sure that  there are no others in all of Japan. I went to see the same shootings and the way they are equipped; they carry numerous large and strangely designed guns.

Translation from Portuguese provided by @yona-m

The letter is written by Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino, who claimed that he had personally gone to see the ships. Nothing about iron covering is mentioned. All he described was how massive the ship had been, and that it had carried large guns.

Compare with how Luis Frois clearly recorded that Hideyoshi had iron-plated ships, via João Rodrigues's description:

名護屋からジョアン・ロドゥリーゲスは一書簡を送付してきたが、彼はその中で次のように述べている。「関白はこのたびの朝鮮征服のために幾隻か非常に大きい船舶を建造させました。それらの舟は、すべて水面から上は鉄で覆われ、中央に船楼を有します。相互に通じる船橋は、いずれも鉄が被せられ、木（造部）は露出していません。そして全て甚だしく美しく塗金されています。 From Nagoya, João Rodrigues sent a letter, in which he stated the following: "The Kanpaku, for the current conquest of Korea, had several very large ships constructed. For all of these ships, everything above the waterline are covered with iron, and each has a tower in its centre. The bridges connecting the ships are all covered with iron, and no wooden parts were exposed. And all of them were very beautifully gilt.

(quoted from the Japanese translation of Luis Frois's Historia de Japam)

While the lack of direct reference does not debunk the iron plates, it cast a very serious doubt on it, as such a thing would be unusual and something to remark on.

What Father Organtino's letter seem to corroborate, though, was that Nobunaga's ships carried cannons. He had said there is no such armaments anywhere in Japan, except for some small ones belonging to the "King of Bungo". This is presumably referring to the Ōtomo clan, who was recorded as being the first people to own full-fledged cannons in Japan (as opposed to simply larger-sized rifles, the "strangely designed guns" Organtino referenced). Below is a replica of what they had owned:

It would be interesting to know how Nobunaga got his cannons as well, because it was supposedly larger than the ones that belonged to the Ōtomo. Did he manage to find craftsmen who could build them? Were they imported from other channels? From Ming, maybe?

[odaclan]

Sashimi in Pre-Edo Japan

From THEY CAME TO JAPAN - An Anthology of European Reports on Japan,1543-1640

A quick culture post.

Francesco Carletti and his associates visited Japan in 1597, just about the end of Hideyoshi's reign.

I find his testimony interesting because due to various fiction media I was given the impression that sashimi/raw fish are not commonly eaten until the Edo period. As it turns out, it was recorded that sashimi was already known and consumed since as early as the 1400s, perhaps even before that. In fact, supposedly in the Shijou school cooking manual (四条流包丁書) it was written that sometimes sashimi of fowl meat were occasionally served in banquets.

I don't have quotes of the direct accounts of the non-fish sashimi yet, but this article describe that in the Muromachi period (1336-1573) the custom of eating fish is indeed exactly as Carletti described: sliced thin and dipped in vinegar.

[odaclan]

There's already a lot of content talking about how bad the research is in Assassin's Creed Shadows, but this one here is another thing that personally annoyed me (besides Nobunaga attacking Iga) so I will just briefly talk about it.

Shown are 3 Osaka Castle screenshots from AC, a historical painting made when the castle still stood, and a 3D reconstruction historians had made based on the research. The game's castle looks quite accurate to these historical materials.

How do these people spend all this time and effort to build a reasonably accurate-looking pre-Tokugawa Osaka Castle and never once realised that Osaka Castle does not exist yet in the game's time? Or perhaps, even worse, they knew but didn't care.

(pardon the little arrows and such, I took the game screenshots from game guides online)

The game does not cover Hideyoshi's rise to power, so at this point there should not be a castle there. And yet Osaka Castle was supposedly one of the early stages? Insane.

Hideyoshi started building Osaka Castle in 1583, which is after Nobunaga's death, and reasonably speaking it could not be completed until at least the year after. Before that, the area was occupied by the Ishiyama Honganji temple compound.

When the Ishiyama Honganji temple surrendered and gave up their headquarters in 1580, it was believed the monks themselves set everything on fire on their way out. Despite the common trope in dramas or novels or other fiction that the Oda forces did it, that doesn't seem to be the case, because the surrender was "peaceful". The Ishiyama Honganji stronghold was never defeated in battle and the inhabitants were only forced to leave because Nobunaga was leveraging the imperial authority.

The writers of the Tamon'in Diary recorded that the place was on fire for two days straight, and presumably a large section of the area were reduced to ashes.

To be fair, during this games timeline (around 1581-1582, I believe?), it's not like there's completely nothing there. Various accounts had recorded that this area was guarded by Oda vassals after the fire, and Luis Frois noted that at the time of Honnouji there's a "tower" there. It's just not going to be a fortified castle like that with a lavishly decorated tenshu.

The "towers" were also identified by the Japanese as yagura 櫓, which don't always have to be fancy structures.

An example of how even rudimentary garrisons can have "towers" made of wood:

(a historical reconstruction of what the "one night" Sunomata Castle supposedly looked like in reality)

[odaclan]

Dairokuten Maō in Cartas

Thank you to the helpful people who forwarded links to the digitized version of Cartas, I was able to identify some of the stories I found in Japanese articles about Luis Frois letters. The most important one being the supposed story of how Nobunaga called himself "Dairokuten Maō".

Letter from Luis Frois in the capital, addressed to Francisco Cabral, 20 April 1573:

There in the text you can see that he recorded of Shingen having called himself "Tendai no Zasu Shamon Shingen" in a letter, and to which Nobunaga responded with "Dairokuten no Maō Nobunaga".

This is a kind of unusual transcription. Most people today would write the epithets as "Dairokuten Maō" and "Tendai Zasu" respectively, without the "no" particle in the middle. I'm assuming this was just the way things are rendered in medieval Japan, which would have been different from modern Japanese.

Even if Frois had gotten incorrect information, I don't believe he would be making this up. He possibly had heard of it from rumours in town.

There's also a brief comment about how Nobunaga called himself the "living god (kami) and Buddha".

*) By the way, if anyone reading this can read Portuguese, can you please help confirm what is "paos"? The Japanese translation of "aspedras & paos" is "stone and trees".

Also, there was something strange when I was trying to check this out. The Japanese article I got said that this Dairokuten Maō story is in a letter from Luis Frois addressed to Antonio de Quadros in 1573. The problem is, in Cartas none of Frois's 1573 letters are addressed to Quadros. Frois's letters to Quadros were from 1571. It had some discussion about Hieizan, but not Shingen.

Eventually I did find the above quote among the 1573 letters, it's just that the letter is actually addressed to Francisco Cabral, not Quadros. I'm not sure if there's some kind of error in the Japanese translation, or the article writer is the one who misquoted the text.

[odaclan]

Nobunaga and the "Dairokuten Maō faith"

This was described in a tourism website, so it might not be necessarily true. That being said, the article claimed that the reason why Nobunaga called himself the "Dairokuten Maō" was because he might be someone who is a participant of the Dairokuten Maō worship/faith.

To explain this a little: I once mentioned that the Dairokuten Maō is actually worshipped in some areas. There are various possible reasons, but one possible reason is that in non-Buddhist faiths, this "demon king" is viewed as a guardian.

As a demon, the Maō tempts people away from Buddhist enlightenment by worldly possessions. Gold and riches and lustful pleasure. Therefore, if someone doesn't believe in Buddhism, it would make sense for them to think that this is actually a good thing and perceive the Maō as some kind of god of prosperity instead.

Slightly related to the above, there were also some medieval texts linking the Dairokuten Maō to Amaterasu and/or other deities. I'm not sure if this is in any way relevant to the worship of the Maō, but it might be relevant to Nobunaga's actions.

This is a narrative that supposedly came from the Taiheiki (possibly a more modernised translation):

「イザナギ・イザナミの第一の御子神が、「この国の主と成て」伊勢に鎮座したとき、第六天魔王が現れた。魔王は、この日本の国に仏法が広まると力を失うという理由から、天照大神の働きを妨害しようとした。

そこで天照大神は、魔王に「私は仏・法・僧の三宝には近づかない」と誓った。魔王は怒りを鎮め、その血で契約書を書き、天照大神に手渡した。「世界が滅び去るまで天照大神の末裔をこの国の主とする。もし、天皇の命に従わず、国を乱し、人民を苦しめるものがあれば、魔王の眷属が必ず罰を与え、死をもって報いさせよう」

［太平記］

When Izanagi and Izanami's first deity offspring "became the ruler of this land" and settled down in Ise, the Dairokuten Maō appeared. Since he would lose his power if Buddhism spread throughout the land of Japan, the Maō attempted to interfere with Amaterasu Ōmikami's actions.

Therefore Amaterasu Ōmikami swore to the Maō, "I will not come near the Three Treasures of Buddhism; the Buddha, Dharma, and the monks". The Maō's anger was appeased, and he wrote a contract in his blood which he gave to Amaterasu Ōmikami. "Until the world perishes, the descendants of Amaterasu Ōmikami shall be the rulers of this land. Supposing that anyone disobeys the Emperor's order, disturbs the country, or causes suffering to the people, the Maō's kin and house will surely punish them and repay it with death."

Some articles I've seen claim that there are also similar narratives where the ones who made the deal with the Maō were Izanagi and Izanami instead. As they were the creator-gods, this version escalates the Maō's importance even further. Though, I haven't seen any quotes of the actual text of this version yet.

The Taiheiki is a classic that I would expect the samurai lords of Nobunaga's time are familiar with. The idea that Nobunaga called himself the Dairokuten Maō based on the above Taiheiki text would lend some credence to the theories saying that Nobunaga might have been aiming to abolish the shogunate to restore power to the emperor.

As seen above, the Maō proclaims to be the emperor's protector, and also someone who safeguards peace in the nation. Even if Nobunaga doesn't particularly worship the Maō, he might have been inspired to view himself as that "Maō's kin and house" who puts to death those who disturbs the nation in service to the emperor.

Edit: It slipped my mind a little when I was originally writing this, but the argument against this would be that at the time of the Enryakuji burning, the head abbot of the temple was actually the emperor's brother. Nobunaga's attack on Enryakuji can be perceived as slight against the imperial household.

On the other hand, you could also argue that the Maō's protection only extends to the sitting emperor. Therefore, if Nobunaga was acting based on the Maō's promise written in Taiheiki, attacking Enryakuji is not against that principle.

[odaclan]

If the cuckoo doesn't sing...

This one may be a familiar story for those who are fans of Sengoku period.

Below is what is purportedly the original text of the story:

郭公を贈り参せし人あり。されども鳴かざりければ、 なかぬなら殺してしまへ時鳥　織田右府 鳴かずともなかして見せふ杜鵑　豊太閤 なかぬなら鳴まで待よ郭公　大権現様

Someone sent a cuckoo as a gift. If it doesn't sing: If it doesn't sing, kill the cuckoo - Oda Ufu If it doesn't sing, make the cuckoo sing - Hōtaikō If it doesn't sing, wait until the cuckoo sings - Daigongen-sama

It originated from the Kasshi Yawa 甲子夜話, a text written in the Edo period by Matsuura Keizan 松浦静山, whose real name was Matsuura Kiyoshi 松浦清 (1760-1841). It's a text that included various subjects, from contemporary incidents of Matsuura's lifetime, to legends and folktales.

There are various interpretations that could be made, since those lines are very simple. For example, while the standard reading for the Hideyoshi line is to associate it with diplomacy, some has interpreted it as a tyrannical force, making people obey by threat.

Regardless of what the original author intended those lines to mean, though, this was written in the Edo period. It may have very well been passed down through hearsay to boot. It only gives us an image of the perception that people of the Edo period have of them, and not an actual proper description.

Per the customs of the time, the three unifiers were not listed by their plain names, but their honorific titles. 右府 Ufu is the title designating the post of Minister of the Right, which Nobunaga did hold for a time. 太閤 Taikō is a title that is used to refer to a Kanpaku that has formally resigned, but still continues to hold influence. 豊太閤 Hōtaikō is the term used to refer to Hideyoshi specifically. 大権現 Daigongen is an abbreviation of 東照大権現 Tōshō Daigongen. When Ieyasu had died, he was deified by that name.

An interesting thing to note is that "hotototogisu" (cuckoo) is written with different kanji for each person.

Nobunaga's hototogisu is written as 時鳥. The kanji is translates to "the bird that tells time". Hototogisu are active in the early summer (around late May to June), so in olden times it was said the farmers star planting rice when the hototogisu sings.

Hideyoshi's hototogisu is written as 杜鵑. This was taken directly from the Chinese word for a cuckoo (Dù Juān in modern Chinese pinyin). It's originally referring to a different species of bird than the hototogisu cuckoo, but was adapted as such by the Japanese. It is a name connected to a legend where a Chinese king became a cuckoo after his death.

Ieyasu's hototogisu is written as 郭公, alternately pronounced as kakkou. This is the simplest one, derived from the sound of "cuckoo cuckoo" call. As with the above, this originally does not refer to hototogisu, but the Japanese adapted its usage because the bird is of similar species.

I have not seen any theories or analysis relating to why the kanji used to write them is different. Perhaps it's simply for aesthetic reasons.

[odaclan]

So, the scans of the Cartas is actually available online, and I was able to locate the original Portuguese source material for this description of Nobunaga's sons.

Hopefully I'll be able to get help in reading the text. The passage about Nobukatsu is about twice as long as his two brothers' description, and I wonder what was it that this priest had to say. I'm assuming this is long because Nobukatsu had actually showed up to visit the church and this priest maybe felt the need to describe the event at length because he was there. The description about Nobutada and Nobutaka seem to be just summaries of events that maybe he wasn't there to witness.

[odaclan]

Yasuke, as described in Matsudaira Ietada's diary

The entry is from the 19th of the 4th month, Tenshō 10 (21 May 1582).

The image with the brown paper is purportedly the original book (or at least an older copy), and the cleaner one is a later date copy.

上様御ふち候、大うす（デウス）進上申候、くろ男御つれ候、身ハすみノコトク、タケハ六尺二分、名ハ弥助ト云

Ue-sama (Nobunaga) was accompanied by a black man in his employ, whom he received from the Deus (European missionaries). His body was like ink, his height 6 shaku 2 bu (182.5 cm)/6 shaku 2 sun (188 cm), and his name was said to be Yasuke.

Previously I had heard of stories that Yasuke accompanied Nobunaga on his inspection of Iga, but it appears to be incorrect information, because I could not find the source of it anymore. This Matsudaira Ietada diary says that this occasion was when Nobunaga returned from his campaign against the Takeda.

[odaclan]

The Conquest of Iga, as recorded in Seishū Gunki

同年の冬、伊賀住人福地某が信長の味方になり伊賀追討の兵を要請した｡故に信長は信雄に伊賀を与え、各家臣に諸方から攻め込ませた｡伊勢､名張口は北畠中将信雄である。同じく馬野口は滝川左近将監一益である。長野口は長野上野介信包である。鹿伏兎口は神戸三七信孝である。甲賀山の口は多羅尾久右衛門尉が先陣を受けた｡下口は蒲生忠三郎氏郷である。大和笠置口は筒井順慶である。 伊賀の侍は防ぐ場所を失い其々城にこもった｡信雄は丸山城を落とした｡一益は富益城を落とし､富益氏は討ち死にして滅亡した｡また、具野尾城は落ちず、信孝は柘植城を攻め落とした｡氏郷は土山城を攻め数刻鉄砲合戦があった｡伊賀は大軍を受けてかなわず有るものは討たれ、あるものは降伏しみな信雄の支配下に入った｡故に信雄は丸山城を瀧川三郎兵衛尉に与え、柘植城を池尻平左衛門尉に与えた｡また、仁木友梅（前守護・義視）を取り立て平楽寺城に入れた｡

In the winter of the same year (1581), a certain Iga resident called Fukuchi became Nobunaga's ally, and requested for an army to launch a punitive expedition against Iga. Nobunaga granted Iga to Nobukatsu, and sent vassals to invade from all directions. From Ise, Nabari entrance, was the troops led by Lieutenant General Kitabatake Nobukatsu. At the same time, from Umano entrance, was the troops under Takigawa Sakon no Shōgen Kazumasu. From Nagano entrance, came Nagano Kōzuke no Suke Nobukane (Oda Nobukane). From the Kabuto entrance, Kanbe Sanshichi Nobutaka. The army coming from the entrance of Kōkayama was led by Lieutenant Tarao Kyūemon, while from the exit came Gamō Chūzaburō Ujisato. From the Yamato Kasagi entrance came the troops under Tsutsui Junkei. The samurai of Iga lost their defences, and holed themselves in their respective castles. Nobukatsu felled Maruyama Castle. Kazumasu felled Tomimasu Castle, and the entire Tomimasu clan were destroyed and killed. Gunō Castle did not fall, but Nobutaka attacked and conquered Tsuge Castle. Ujisato attaked Tsuchiyama Castle, and a gunfight lasted for a few hours there. Iga was no match for such a massive force, and some were defeated, while others surrendered themselves under Nobukatsu. After which, Nobukatsu granted Maruyama Castle to Lieutenant Takigawa Saburōbē and Tsuge Castle to Lieutenant Ikejiri Heizaemon. Also, he brought back Nikki Yūbai (the former shugo Nikki Yoshimi) and installed him in Heirakuji Castle.

(Seishū Gunki vol. 8)

In light of the recently released Assassin's Creed trailer, this really needed to be said:

Nobunaga does not invade Iga because he hated "ninjas"/shinobi. Nobunaga never participated in the Iga invasion and never directly led it.

Both are erroneous narratives that are constantly propagated both by Japanese and non-Japanese media, and this is just frustrating at this point. Some newer takes tried to "clean it up" by saying that Nobunaga invaded Iga as part of his nationwide conquest. That's a somewhat less wrong take on it, but if you put Nobunaga in direct command of the army, then it's still incorrect.

Both times the Oda forces attacked Iga, it was under the command of Nobunaga's son, Nobukatsu. After this final conquest, where Iga was thoroughly defeated in 1581, Nobunaga only came later to inspect the region. Everything had already been cleaned up, and the Shinchōkōki even recorded that there were lavish accommodations prepared for Nobunaga to stay in for the occasion.

Now going back to the narrative.

Seishū Gunki is somewhat less reliable than Shinchōkōki in various areas, but it's still a valuable material regardless. The are differences between this account and Shinchōkōki, though. For example, here Nobutaka was also listed as a participant. In the Shinchōkōki, Nobutaka was not listed as an officer that took part in the charge.

Another difference is that while Shinchōkōki corroborated Fukuchi surrendering himself to Nobunaga, it also mentioned that he was actually from Tsuge. Meaning that there was no need to attack and conquer Tsuge. Shinchōkōki also said that one of the Oda vassals went to Tsuge to protect it, and his name was listed as "Fuwa". In the above gunki narrative, this was the castle/region that Nobutaka attacked. It's likely that this part is in error in the gunki, and Nobutaka was not actually present here.

That aside, there has been various theories about why Nobukatsu attacked Iga, and there's an odd story of an Iga resident(s) who requested that the Oda invade his own homeland that was not explained in prior articles that I've seen. This request from the Iga folk themselves was what encouraged Nobunaga to grant permission for an official invasion of Iga, something that highly disapproved of 2 years prior.

This full text in the gunki provides an insight for the possible reason: It's possibly to restore the rightful shugo of Iga to power.

In the last part of the above text, a man named "Nikki Yoshimi" was referenced. The Nikki family was originally the official shugo (governors) of Iga. In a previous chapter of the gunki, it was mentioned that at some point they lost power, and the so-called council leadership of Iga became established.

If you've read the various floating narratives about how Iga is an "independent" society that is free from samurai rulership, this is how that supposedly came to be. The Nikki family were still there. They just got overrun by the people. If the above text is to be believed, the people who rebelled weren't peasants either. They were still considered of "samurai" class (they even own castles), just that they're perhaps of lower status (some texts would call them jizamurai).

If this narrative is actually accurate, then perhaps the men who came to the Oda for help were associates of the Nikki family. What they wanted was perhaps to the get rid of the "insurgents" who had rebelled and snatched power from the "rightful rulers".

So much for the mysticism of the secret "ninja" village and all, huh? It's just more of the typical power struggle between clans that are constantly happening in this time.

Incidentally, this situation is not entirely unique to Iga. A similar situation had occurred in Kaga almost a century prior, where the Ikkō from the Honganji affiliated temples there overthrew the shugo and ruled the land for a very very long time. Like in Iga, the shugo family were actually still there. They just effectively no longer had any power. The Ikkō rule remained until the Oda forces came and got rid of them as well.

[odaclan]

Yasuke, as described in the book by Jean Crasset

Transcript:

So soon as Easter Holy Days were over, Father Valignan took his way towards Meaco, to wait on Nobunanga, and thank him for his favour and Protection to the Christians and the Fathers that Preach'd in his States. He brought with him from the Indies a certain Black. As soon as he enter'd the Town, all the People crouded to see him. Father Organtin presented him to Nobunaga, who was much surprised, and more unwilling to believe it his natural colour. He imagin'd they had Painted him in this manner, which obliged the Moor to strip himself half naked, before he was convinced of the truth. He gave the Father a very favourable Audience, and appointed the Visiter (Valignano) to meet him such a day.

The Crasset text appears to use a letter from Frois as the basis for this narrative.

Incidentally, I was not able to confirm the origin of the story where Nobunaga had Yasuke washed to confirm that he wasn't painted. It's a narrative that is floating around, but in what I did have access to, I don't seem to see anything of that sort. The above story only says Yasuke took off his clothes, but no washing was mentioned. Shinchoukouki only said he was strong as 10 men, and attracted a crowd.

Here are some of the original Portuguese texts about Yasuke:

April 14, 1581 letter from Luis Frois (source for the above text)

October 8, 1581 letter from Lorenzo Mesia

November 5, 1582 report from Luis Frois

I cannot read Portuguese. I was only somewhat able to confirm the contents with Google translate, narrowed down to just the Yasuke part. I have not able to check what else was written in there, because typing them takes a while to do.

[odaclan]

Nobunaga rages in Kyoto over rulership of Ise Province

More interesting narrative from Crasset's book.

But some days after an unhappy and tragical Accident turned all this Joy into Mourning and Tears. For Nobunanga, who never play'd but a sure game, seeing all the Nobility of Japan Assembled together at Meaco, resolved to make use of this occasion, and gave out, that he intended: to invest one of his Children with the Kingdom of Ixe. The Lords of that Country, who had a kindness for their Prince, did not at all relish his Proposals as was expected, but seem'd quite averse to them, which put him into so outragious a passion, that he took Thirty of them and Beheaded them, without regard to farther Process, He also put to Death seven considerable Lords in the Kingdom of Xamaro. And tas'd their Houses on suspicion that they had not favour'd his Interest. These severities made him dreaded by all, and seeing he was pleased to favour the Chriſtians, none durst give the least disturbance for fear of incurring his displeasure.

(page 358 of Book 1)

This took place "some days after" the grand parade that Nobunaga put on in Kyoto in 1581. The Europeans were invited to the event, and they had a church in Kyoto besides, so if this incident happened in public they might have been direct eyewitnesses of it.

The Shinchoukouki naturally made no mention of such a thing happening, but that book is indeed one that is rather heavily "censored".

This is a curious incident, because Japanese accounting gave me the impression that Nobukatsu and Nobutaka already had taken over the headship of their respective adoptive families some years prior, and thus already share leadership of the province of Ise as of 1581.

Not to mention that, as I quoted in a previous post a section of the book, Nobutaka was introduced as "King of Ixe". That part comes before this part. This doesn't seem to make very much sense.

The first possibility was that this might have been narrated second hand, and the person writing this account somehow got the names in this incident muddled. Perhaps Nobunaga was actually talking about a completely different province.

I'm not certain what else was there to dispute about in Ise after the raid on the Kitabatake family, which had happened in 1576. After Nobukatsu assumed the headship of the family, Nobunaga ordered the purge of many of the Kitabatake family members for reasons that I'm not entirely clear of (there are many tales I saw, but no proper source). After that, by all accounts Ise was already under the control of Nobunaga's sons (Nobutaka supposedly took over the Kanbe family even earlier).

The other possibility is that what Nobunaga wanted was to restore the Oda surname to his sons, since at the time they were still using the names of their adoptive families, Kanbe and Kitabatake. Surnames are considered more important than bloodline, so the clans might have previously begrudgingly accepted Nobunaga's sons taking over the headship, because the names were at least still preserved. However, if they return to their Oda surname, the Kanbe and Kitabatake names would be lost, and the vassals would naturally object to it.

It still doesn't explain why Nobutaka was already "the King of Ise" when he was introduced, but maybe these are based on multiple texts that were not in proper chronological order.

What province was "Xamaro" supposed to be is a bit hard to parse, but my guess is that it's Yamato, based on how a Portuguese map had labelled Totomi as "Ioromi" (this makes me very much curious of how spoken Japanese sounds like circa the Sengoku). Yamato Province borders Ise, so it would be understandable that they might have also put forward objections and get caught in the fire.

[odaclan]

My sincerest sympathies for how badly the next assassin's creed game has already and will continue to poison most of the discussions surrounding Nobunaga and everyone withing two degrees of him.

Oh no, what did they do to him this time?

I only saw one trailer, and it was mostly about Yasuke and the ninja character. Wasn't much of Nobunaga that I saw, but I was concerned because the developer spotlight had this lady going on and on about the ninja being all about honour and wisdom and Nobunaga trying to destroy Iga ninjas. I'm fed up of this Iga ninja nonsense.

I already rolled my eyes at all the "ooh shinobi and grappling hooks and stealth" stuff, but what can I say? People are already defending inaccuracies on the basis that the previous Assassin Creed games had time travel and/or magic and thus there's no reason to hold them to a standard of accuracy now.

I wish I know how to better spread the word on the facts, haha, but I don't know. Not even doing Youtube can guarantee it will reach that big of an audience.

Even if the fiction writers are using the tropes as tropes without intending to claim they're factual, the continual perpetuation of the tropes will cement them as truth to the general public who don't have the time to actually do proper research beyond a 5 minute read on Wikipedia (or worse, reading bad hot takes on Twitter and Tiktok).