#azuchi castle

[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]

安土城復元なるか　20年がかりの「令和の大調査」開始　天主の実態解明へ

戦国武将・織田信長が築いた安土城（滋賀県近江八幡市、東近江市）の実態解明に向け、滋賀県は１１日、２０年がかりの「令和の大調査」を国特別史跡の安土城跡で開始した…

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.

[daeva-agas]

@oda-princess: Ok, so the actual book is this (Amazon link).

This is in Japanese, and it's more of an archaeological data. Unless you also like to see ruins and rocks and broken pottery and other archaeology research materials, it's probably better to find a different book if you want more info on Azuchi. I just got it because I couldn't go hike up to the actual mountain to see the ruins for myself at the time.

The map with Ieyasu's house labelled on it is online too, if you want to see that (article link). Helpful label (Toshiie's house not listed here):

[redsamuraiii]

Blue Eye Samurai : Reel vs Real

Yasaka Pagoda

Arashiyama

Azuchi Castle

Osaka Castle

[odaclan]

「安土城」復元プロジェクトで新たな一歩　復元のカギはバチカンに　ローマ教皇に贈られた“当時の姿を伝える屏風”を探して（FNNプライムオンライン） - Yahoo!ニュース

織田信長が築いた「安土城」をよみがえらせるプロジェクトが本格的にスタートした。復元の“カギ”は…遠く離れた国にいった幻の“屏風”だ。

Last year I shared an article about the internet being mobilised to search for the elusive Azuchi Castle painting that was sent to the Pope. The article is translated into multiple languages, with the hopes that the international community can help in the search.

This year, the Shiga prefecture (where Azuchi is) has actually dispatched an official to the Vatican, to conduct another search and/or establish more communications.

Not much updates yet, though, beyond news reporting that the official has arrived there.

It would be great if they can somehow get the Vatican to actually release a statement. Better yet, the Pope himself. It would draw the attention of a much wider audience. Even non-Catholics would sometimes listen when the Pope says something.

[odaclan]

Some nice, detailed shots of Azuchi Castle from Nobunaga no Chef volume 26. 

I rather wondered if the Azuchi Castle museum staff let the manga artist have the 3D files for the Azuchi ground reconstruction; or if the artist just made up the scenery in the bottom image; or if such stock image actually is available, but I just didn’t know where to look. 

Existing models and stock images that I could find online so far only shows the aerial view and details on the tenshuu. A ground level view that shows the mansions (I assume is the honmaru of the castle) as shown in that picture is not something that I can find anywhere.

[odaclan]

Shiga Prefecture officials turns to internet sleuths to search for the elusive folding screen depicting Azuchi Castle.

Nobunaga had commissioned the painting from Kanou Shouei, the father of the famous Kanou Eitoku. This painting was then entrusted to Valignano to be brought to the Pope, which he then did when he escorted the young Japanese Catholics in the Tenshou Embassy. 

Supposedly the painting had indeed reached its destination, and for a time it was displayed in the Vatican’s Gallery of Maps. However, its whereabouts is presently unknown, and nobody could track down any documentations of exchange of ownership. A query had been sent to Rome once upon a time, but it turned up nothing.

Now, the government hopes that with technology and the wide reach of internet, someone might be able to come forward with clues to discovering this mysterious artifact. 

There was a precedent where a then-unknown painting depicting Hideyoshi’s black-lacquered Osaka Castle was discovered in an Austrian castle. They hope that someday the painting of Azuchi Castle will also turn up in a similar manner.

The reconstruction of Azuchi’s tenshu that we have today is an approximation based on written text. As text can very easily be misunderstood, the research team hopes that the painting would give them a better insight of what the famous castle keep looks like. 

For example, one of the somewhat questionable description is the part that describes the sixth floor as being "eight-cornered". Presently it was reconstructed as an awkward octagonal form, making it look very odd and mismatched. For the longest time, people just chalked it up to Nobunaga’s eccentricity, but nowadays people are starting to reevaluate the evidence in a more objective way, free from age-old assumptions and legends. 

Someone once suggested that “eight corners” means that that particular floor looks like this:

Perhaps the structure looks like that because it has jutting balconies, to admire the view from. We hope that we will eventually find the truth.

[samurailoveballadhistory]

I do understand why this was being done. In order so that Mitsuhide does not come out looking like a villain in Honnouji, we have to make Nobunaga willingly let it happen. And so the story constructed a “fall from grace” scenario, because it could not possibly happen otherwise. The strongly-driven Nobunaga give up his ambitions on his own volition? Preposterous!

This is all to say: This is just plot convenience for the sake of Mitsuhide, and the overall game narrative as a whole. Do not take this to somehow mean that the real Nobunaga was reviled like this. 

This “oh no, nobody came” is a non-issue historically. A typical samurai wedding do not usually involve big partying with the citizenry on the streets or in the castle. Only the vassals and the lord’s family participate. In this story, it was just done to show Nobunaga’s generousity for inviting his people, and to create a tragic scene when nobody showed up.

Having the very own local citizens of Azuchi be all upset is a bit of a Plot Contrivance, because it really doesn’t make sense realistically. However, having your own people turn against you hurts the most, so again, I understand why this was necessary plot-wise. Still. Most real life accounts say that it’s rather uncommon for people to refuse to come when Nobunaga holds events. 

When he has the parade in the capital, citizens came out in droves to watch. Many might have just been there to see the emperor, who agreed to come out to witness the event. Others were just glad to watch the parade. Nobunaga had other parades and festivals in Azuchi as well, and crowds upon crowds of citizens came to watch. 

There was even one time where guests flooded Azuchi castle to the point that an avalanche occurred due to the number of visitors. The main halls and tower keep of Azuchi Castle was located on a mountain, and the stairway going up there is carved and paved on the mountain itself. So yes, an entire chunk of a mountain just collapsed because it can’t hold the weight of the crowds.