Oda Nobunaga

“ No sooner, however, did the prowess of Oda Nobunaga and, above all, of Hideyoshi, the taikō, bring within sight a cessation of civil war and the unification of the country, than the taste for beautiful objects and artistic utensils recovered vitality. By degrees there grew up among the feudal barons a keen rivalry in art industry, and the shōgun’s court in Yedo set a standard which the feudatories constantly strove to attain. ”

“ The spirit of the time was such as brought to the surface only men of uncommon ability. The era was of itself rich in inspiring events, but the latter were in no small measure due to the brilliant achievements of three heroes—Oda Nobunaga (1573-1582) , Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1583-1598) , and Tokugawa Iyeyasu (1600-1616) —who rose one after another to rule over feudal Japan. Deferring the story of the work of the last statesman, we shall now turn to the career of Oda and Toyotomi, who respectively unified the long dismembered nation, and organized the great Korean expedition. ”

“ But the great warlord Oda Nobunaga declared he would just ring the wretched creature's neck. He had no patience with disobedience."
"Perhaps Ieyasu Tokugawa's answer was the wisest, Sato-sama." The banker's eyes were defiant.
"He also enjoyed the luxury of time, Nogami-san. I suppose the pace of affairs was more leisurely back then." Sato set down his black raku sake saucer and lit a Peace cigarette, the unfiltered Japanese brand. "These days events do not always allow us such luxuries, no matter how much we might wish it. Sometimes it is necessary to proceed forcefully." ”

“ Born in an epoch where the idea of nation or empire had little significance in the ears of military chiefs each fighting for his own hand, he set the welfare of the country and the dignity of the Empire above all other considerations, and thought rather of the greatness of Japan than of the aggrandisement of a fief. It has been truly said that the Muromachi era was in many respects the darkest period of Japanese history, yet it produced Oda Nobunaga, Hashiba Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Iyeyasu, and many others who, though less illustrious, deserved in many respects almost equal honour. ”

“ To Oda Nobunaga, indeed, is commonly attributed the first employment of decorative woodcarving in religious edifices. He is said to have caused figures of dragons to be chiselled on the pillars of a Buddhist pagoda within the precincts of a magnificent mansion erected by him at Azuchi in Omi, and from that time annalists are wont to date the beginning of this application of glyptic art to the ornamentation of interiors. ”

“ Nobunaga Oda [21] was certainly a distinguished leader of armies, marked for his courage and generosity, and possessing in a high degree all faculties needed for a good ruler; and yet his lack of self-control brought on that he was murdered by his retainer Mitsuhide. Hideyoshi [22] was generous, shrewd, valiant, and almost perfect in self-control; hence he rose within twenty years from nothing to be the ruler of the entire Japanese Empire. But his generosity went beyond rightful limits. Generosity is a noble virtue, but it must fit the circumstances. ”

“ All the great captains of the later military epoch, from Oda Nobunaga downward, sought to combine the artistic beauties hitherto peculiar to the "illustrious mansions" of Kyōtō with the strength and solidity demanded by the new weapons and greatly increased organisations of the era. ”

“ Tradition says that its author was a maid of honour to Oda Nobunaga, named Ono no Otsū, but there is no authenticity for this belief. The following is the gist of the story:
A high-ranked samurai in the post-town of Yahagi, in Mikawa Province, prays the God Jōruri Kō to bless him with a child. In response to his earnest prayers, a beautiful girl is born to
A marionette performance given at the Horiyeza, Ōsaka
his wife. ”

“ Once more tallies were issued, but the number of vessels being limited to three and their crews to three hundred, the resulting commerce was comparatively small. Just at this epoch, too, Occidental merchantmen arrived in China, and the complexion of the latter's oversea trade underwent alteration. Thereafter, the Ashikaga fell, and their successor, Oda Nobunaga, made no attempt to re-open commerce with China, while his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, planned the invasion of the Middle Kingdom, so that the sword was more in evidence than the soroban. ”

“ Oda family, one of "8 Generals of Kwanto"; origin of family
—Hidenobu (1581-1602) , grandson of Nobunaga
—Katsunaga (1568-82) , death
—Nobuhide (d. 1549) aids Crown
—Nobukatsu, son of Nobunaga, in Ise; succession; Komaki war; peace with Hideyoshi; Hideyoshi's treatment; signs oath of loyalty
—Nobunaga (1534-82) ; seizes Ise; career; Hideyoshi serves under; wins Okehazama; alliance with Ieyasu and Shingen; Court appeals to; attitude toward Yoshiaki; practically shogun; makes peace; friendly to Christians; aids Ieyasu; death; character ”

“ Yet this same Hideyoshi evidently recognized that the Buddhist faith had great potentialities in Japan, and that its encouragement made for the peace and progress of the country. Buddhism suffered terribly at the hands of Nobunaga. The great monastery of Enryaku-ji was a mass of blackened ruins at the time of the Oda baron's death, and it has been shown that the monasteries of Kii and Osaka fared almost equally badly at the hands of Hideyoshi. Nevertheless the latter had no sooner grasped the supreme administrative power than he showed himself a protector and promotor of Buddhism. ”

“ In 1568 he was seated in Kiōto, a maker of shōguns and acknowledged ruler of 30 among the 66 provinces of Japan. Had Nobunaga, wielding such immense power, adopted a hostile attitude towards Christianity, the fires lit by the Jesuits in Japan must soon have been extinguished. Nobunaga, however, to great breadth and liberality of view added strong animosity towards Buddhist priests. Many of the great monasteries had become armed camps, their inmates skilled equally in field-attacks and in the defence of ramparts. ”

“ Nobunaga (1534—1582) , one of the three greatest generals of Japan, was a Tōkaidō chieftain of Taira extraction. In the general anarchy then existing, he followed the fashion and made war on his neighbours, gradually acquiring great power. He supported the claim of Yoshiaki to the Ashikaga shogunate, but in 1573 deposed him and took the power into his own hands. Not being a Minamoto, he could not be Shōgun, and his lack of administrative power prevented his victories from having any lasting value, so that he never exercised the control that was enjoyed by his successors, Hideyoshi and Iyeyasu. ”

“ One of this succession was Ota Nobuhide, who seems to have reverted from the priestly character back to the warlike habits of his ancestors. In the general scramble for land, which characterized that period, Nobuhide acquired by force of arms considerable possessions in the province of Owari, which at his death in a.d. 1549 he left to his son Ota Nobunaga. This son grew up to be a man of large stature, but slender and delicate in frame. ”

“ No sooner, however, had the former been reduced under his sway and the plans of campaign against the latter matured, than Nobunaga met an untimely death in 1582 at the hand of his vassal, Akechi Mitsuhide. With great strategic skill, Nobunaga had combined the faculty of discovering able men and winning their loyalty. Seldom had so large a number of great men been found under the control of a single ruler as under Nobunaga. Death prevented him from carrying out his design of subjugating Kiushū, as he had conquered the other districts of the empire. ”

“ Throughout the fourteen years of life that remained to him, Nobunaga continued to be the constant friend of the missionaries in particular and of foreigners visiting Japan in general. He stood between the Jesuits and the Throne when, in reply to an appeal from the Buddhist priests, the emperor, for the second time, issued an anti-Christian decree (1568) ; he granted a site for a church and residence at Azuchi on Lake Biwa, where his new fortress stood; he addressed to various powerful feudatories letters signifying a desire for the spread of Christianity ”

“ But Nobunaga remained the power behind the throne, and, a quarrel arising between him and the shogun, he deposed the latter, and became himself the ruler of Japan. After two hundred and thirty-eight years of dominion the lordship of the Ashikaga thus came to an end.
Of this great Japanese leader we are told, "He was a prince of large stature, but of weak and delicate complexion, with a heart and soul that supplied all other wants; ambitious above all mankind; brave, generous, and bold, and not without many excellent [Pg 74] moral virtues; inclined to justice, and an enemy to treason. ”

“ It would be impossible for such a man as Mitsuhidé to 'strike his lance' against me, who am a hero, governing Japan. Set your mind at ease and fill another cup. 'Saké is the best broom to sweep away sorrow.' I will join you."
So saying, Nobunaga drained two or three cupfuls in rapid succession. Ano-no-Tsuboné warned him, saying: "'Remissness is a great enemy,' my lord. You would do well to ponder over what Sir Rammaru said just now." ”

“ Not only was my brother murdered by a mere woman, but she, my mortal enemy, has been taken under the protection of a powerful noble, so that I am [75] powerless to touch her! If I allow the matter to stand my reputation as a warrior will be compromised. If you decline to interfere, I will go myself and negotiate with Lord Tokugawa. At least you will allow me to do that!”
“If you are so set upon it, I will see what I can do,” said Nobunaga, reluctantly; and he accordingly sent a warrior to Iyeyasu to request the delivery of Katsuno. ”

“ Nobutada stayed at the Nijō Castle, and Nobunaga put up at the Honnōji Temple, where he spent some days in enjoyment with his beautiful concubine Ano-no-Tsuboné, his favourite Rammaru, and the latter's younger brother Rikimaru.
One night Ano-no-Tsuboné brought Nobutada's son Sambōshi from the Nijō Castle, and taking the baby in her arms, bore it into Nobunaga's presence. Nobunaga was exceedingly delighted to see his innocent grandson. A feast was immediately given in honour of the child's visit, and Nobunaga ordered the lady to perform a dance. ”

“ The sooner you are able to do so, the better, my lord."
"I am grateful to you for your kind words, Tsuboné," said Nobunaga resignedly. "I am, however, fully prepared to die. If I should be killed by an unknown soldier, in an attempt to escape, it would be an everlasting disgrace. But I am troubled about the safety of Sambōshi. I want you to take the child and hasten to Hidéyoshi's camp at Takamatsu, in the province of Bitchū. When you arrive there, tell him to take care of Sambōshi, and to revenge my death on the accursed traitor. ”

“ The offer was accepted; two bloody battles followed; the insurgents were cut to pieces, and the young emperor, [173] under the name of Cubosama, was enthroned at Kioto. The palace, which had been wrecked in the war, was replaced by a new one, built of the stones of the bonzeries and the statues of the national idols. The two conquerors then made haste to show their esteem for the missionaries and assured them of protection; Nobunaga withdrew to his kingdom when the work was completed, and Vatadono, his lieutenant, remained as viceroy at Kioto. ”

“ Historians delight to put wise epigrams into the mouths of illustrious men. It is related of Nobunaga that he dismissed the Christian problem by curtly observing that, since Japan already possessed a dozen different sects of religion, he saw no reason why she should not have a thirteenth. ”

“ While the ambassadors were on their way to Europe, great changes had taken place in the Japanese islands. A few months after they had sailed from Nagasaki, Akechi Mitsuhide, a favorite general of Nobunaga’s, had marched from Miyako to join Hashiba Hideyoshi, another favorite general, employed in prosecuting the war against Nagato. The stern severity of Nobunaga had rendered him very unpopular, of which Akechi took advantage to turn about and attack him, left as he was at Miyako almost without troops. ”

“ In many cases they had largely increased their holdings by conquest, and were almost entirely independent of the central authority. For more than a century this independence had been growing, and at the time of Nobunaga there was little pretence of deferring to the shōgun in any matter growing out of the relations of one prince to the other, and none at all in reference to the internal government of the territories within their jurisdiction. ”

“ NOBUNAGA Nobunaga perished at the age of forty-nine. The great faults of his character seem to have been want of discrimination in the treatment of his allies and his retainers, and want of patience in the conduct of affairs. In his eyes, a baron of high rank deserved no more consideration than a humble retainer, and he often gave offence which disturbed the achievement of his plans. As for his impetuousness, his character has been well depicted side by side with that of Hideyoshi and Ieyasu in three couplets familiar to all Japanese. ”

“ As might have been expected, this premature death of Nobunaga—for he was only forty-nine years old—created an intense excitement. The idea of heredity had so fixed a place in men's minds, that the only thought of Nobunaga's friends and retainers was to put forward in his place some one who should be his heir. There were living two sons, both by concubines, viz. Nobuo and Nobutaka, and a grandson, Sambōshi, still a child, who was a son of his son Nobutada, now deceased. Each of these representatives had supporters among the powerful retainers of the dead prince. ”