WELCOME!
First, may I thank all those who have sent good wishes following my recent heart problems.
I am now very much on the mend and am writing even better than before!
My latest book for Helion is about one of the most famous names in samurai history: Oda Nobunaga, Japan’s first unifier and the samurai commander who is regarded a key player in Japan’s military revolution through his mastery of firearms. I have however found him to be a man of mystery. Why should this be for such a well known character?
Vilified by George Sansom in his History of Japan as a “cruel and callous brute”, Oda Nobunaga is still a divisive figure to this day. A “warrior child” of his times (one might even say an infant prodigy) Nobunaga emerged on to the Japanese scene to a background of a country that had been at war with itself for decades. He became Japan’s first unifier after many years of civil war and earned immortality by an early death, yet he remains one of the most controversial and mysterious characters in the whole of samurai history.
It is well recognised that Nobunaga achieved results both on the battlefield and off it with a ruthlessness that others feared and few emulated. To his many admirers he is credited with military innovations ranging from the invention of iron clad warships to the introduction of controlled volley firing. His political achievements are also lauded and include the abolition of the Ashikaga Shogunate after two centuries of power and the establishment of Japan’s first cordial relations with Europe. Most important of all, say his supporters, through a series of victories by a loyal and well-organised army, Nobunaga began the process that was eventually to lead to the reunification of Japan under one leader, a goal that only his unexpected and violent death prevented Nobunaga from achieving for himself.
By contrast, his detractors note that Nobunaga’s legacy includes some of the cruellest civilian massacres in Japanese history. For example, he destroyed Japan’s greatest seat of learning at the monastery of Enryakuji on Mount Hiei, and in several other similar operations he slaughtered thousands of local warriors who had banded together in hostile leagues to oppose him. Even his achievements on the battlefield have been called into question, because while it is generally accepted that Nobunaga pulled off a handful of stunning victories against formidable foes he also won several other encounters that have been exaggerated out of all proportion. Modern historical research has therefore questioned the one aspect of his character that for centuries was almost universally accepted: that of being a military genius.
My study of him begins with his childhood under his father Oda Nobuhide, who was beleaguered on all sides by enemies. By the time he had inherited his rightful position following his father’s death young Nobunaga had already acquired a reputation for ruthlessness, but all the far-sighted innovations attributed to him were yet to emerge. To assess them I have had to re-examine his four key victories: Okehazama 1560, Anegawa 1570, Nagashino 1575 and Kizugawaguchi 1578. I have written about each before, of course, but have discovered much that is new. Anegawa and Nagashino were battles fought on land and were undoubted victories, but in each case Nobunaga seems to have hesitated at the end and let his enemy get away. After Anegawa his enemies were still around for three more years, and following the supposed destruction of the Takeda at Nagashino his enemy Takeda Katsuyori was still fighting seven years later. Kizugawaguchi too succeeded in sinking an enemy fleet, but the overall objective, which was to cut off supplies to the temple of Ishiyama Honganji, failed utterly.
The key element in Nobunaga’s reputation lies in his supposed mastery of firearms. Here again my book exposes are many revelations, because whereas he was genuinely able to deploy thousands of harquebuses (matchlock muskets) in battle, future conflicts (which are little known compared to Nagashino) indicate that he had learned very little from the experience. At Tennōji in 1576 and Saika in 1577 Nobunaga was on the receiving end of concentrated harquebus fire, with very unexpected results!
There is also much unpleasant evidence that Nobunaga more of a master of massacres than a master of muskets. He used terror as a weapon against civilians at Nagashima and in the provinces of Echizen and Kaga, yet all his successes were to no avail when he was taken by surprise by one of his generals when he was sleeping in a temple. In a vicious raid Nobunaga’s achievements were reduced to nothing and his life ended by honourable suicide.
I leave the reader to explore my conclusions about Oda Nobunaga and to assess the evidence I use. For example, readers may be surprised at how much new material is available about the battle of Nagashino, which we can now see in an entirely different light. There is also a wealth of fresh illustrative detail based on new discoveries such as Nobunaga’s flags and the secret meaning they conveyed. Finally, why was he alone in 1582 when he was killed? Where were his famous Horse Guards who had always protected him?
Oda Nobunaga was indeed a man of mystery!
To get in touch email me at drt60th@gmail.com
