The Three Great Unifiers of Japan I

Japan was once in a state of constant warfare and chaos, known as the Sengoku Jidai. This was the time of the Samurai, who ruled the land and fought each other for power in service of the emperor. Three great men would rise above all others and create the Japan we know today.
 Our story begins with a young noble named Nobunaga of the Oda clan, a clan and boy that were not expected for great things. Due to his sheer force of personality and brutality Oda Nobunaga would go on to become the first Great Unifier of Japan. This episode goes into the early years of Oda Nobunaga and his rise to power.

Topics Covered
Sengoku Jidai
House Yamato
Ōnin War
The Dying Ashikaga Shogunate
The Arrival of Europeans in Japan
Oda Nobunaga
Consolidating Power in the Oda Clan
The Battle of Okehazama
The Three Great Unifiers of Japan

Transcript

The Three Great Unifiers of Japan

The Sengoku Jidai or The Sengoku period was a time of great social upheaval and near-constant Civil war in Japanese History. 

It was a lawless Era where the central authority had all but broken down and Chaos reigned throughout the land.

Gekokujō is a Japanese word which refers to someone of a lower position overthrowing someone of a higher position using military or political might, seizing power, it first appeared in the Japanese vocabulary to describe events in the Sengoku period.

It was a was famous time where the Samurai ruled the land.

In Japanese, samurai means "those who serve." Meaning in service of the emperor

This is the story of Japan's three great unifiers, who among various other warlords all fought to unify Japan and bring peace and stability to a land filled with turmoil and destruction

The three men each given a condescending nickname, are known as ('the Fool', 'the Monkey', and 'the Old Badger')

ONIN WAR

The Ashikaga Shogunate had ruled Japan since 1336,

They were not held in high regard, like the previous Kamakura Shogunate, part of this is because they did not hold many lands,

The Kamakura Shogunate installed many of the Samurai lords into their lands and with the changing of dynasties the respect did not follow

The Samurai it should be noted are not the hyperbolized ultimate honorable warriors that we think of today, they weren't always the skilled, extremely moral, and loyal force we now associate with them. Many times, they were loyal to whoever paid them the most. They often bribed and stole hostages from rival clans

With the Ashikaga shogunate weak the Samurai lords began attacking each other in an attempt to expand their power.

 Our story starts in the year 1464, a few decades before Columbus discovered the new world and a mere 12 years after the fall of Constantinople the end of the centuries old Roman Empire.

Ashikaga Yoshimasa was a weak Shogun, more concerned with the arts, reading and writing poetry and garden crafting.

Yoshimasa the eighth Ashikaga Shogun had no heir. He persuaded his younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshimi, to abandon the life of a monk, and named him heir. In 1465, the unanticipated birth of a son to Yoshimasa put these plans in question. The infant, Yoshihisa, led to a succession crisis with two competing factions. 

 This dispute for succession started the Ōnin War and led to the beginning of the Sengoku period. Or Warring states period, a time of political unrest, that saw the collapse of the Japanese Feudal System. Complete Chaos emerged with brutality, hostage exchanges and mass executions of warlords and warriors.

Europeans arrived on Japanese soil for the first time during this period bringing with them Christianity and gunpowder, both of which would have a drastic change on Japanese society and war.

Various Samurai warlord clans fought for control of Japan in the power vacuum that arose, while the Ikko-Ikki formed, who were Warrior monks that rose up from the peasant class, largely outnumbering the Samurai and unhappy with the instability and Chaos they had brought to the land.

They fought against the brutal aristocratic Samurai

Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa sat by idly while the Onin war increased in severity  

The succession crisis led to many clans supporting either faction, an estimated 80,000 troops gathered on both sides

While the capital Kyoto became a battleground the Shogun Yoshimasa sat in his palace reading poetry and planning his garden.

By 1467 Fighting spread across the country with rivaling Daimyo clans lining up on both sides, eventually Yoshimi, the shoguns younger brother switched sides accepting the young son as legitimate heir dooming his side of the faction. Finally, the Shogun Yoshimasa stepped in and fighting died down.

Kyoto was devastated and tension arose all over the country. This turbulent time would become known as the Sengoku Jidai or warring states period of Japan that would last nearly 150 years

rival Daimyo and Samurai all vied to become the new Shogun or Military dictator of Japan.

Japanese Feudalism, 

Feudal Japan was ruled by the Shogun, who was the military dictator directly under the Emperor of Japan 

The Japanese Royal dynasty, House Yamato is by far the longest reigning family in the world, the Imperial house extends all the way back to 660 BC with its founding by the mythological Emperor Jimmu, who descended from the gods. Hirohito the famous World War 2  Emperor and Japans current Emperor (the grandson of Hirohito) Naruhito all come from the same family.

The Japanese Emperor is a God and therefore unable to be usurped by the Shogun. However throughout Japan’s history the Shogun or powerful men would be the real leaders and the Emperor was more of a puppet

These strong men would often times take the capital city of Kyoto and control the Emperor and therefore Japan.

Under the Shogun were the Daimyo, powerful landholders that often fought to become the Shogun. 

Under the Daimyo were the Samurai, warriors with small land grants that fought for the Daimyo

Feudal Japan’s Hierarchy shared many commonalities with Feudal Europe, for example the Samurai are synonymous with knights. Roughly 10% of Feudal Japan served in the upper classes, the remaining 90% were peasants who worked for the Samurai and Daimyo for protection.

FIRST CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS

In 1543 three Portuguese merchants were blown off course and landed on Tanegashima Island at the southern tip of the Japanese Archipelago. This would be the first time Europeans had contacted the Japanese.

A ship containing some 100 people arrived some with “different” physical features, and whose language was not understood. Among them was a scholar from China

They approached Nishimura village

The chieftain of the small village by chance knew written Chinese well, and the Chinese scholar conversed with the village chieftain in the sand with a stick.

The scholar described them as from the lands of southwestern barbarians (or Nanban the Japanese word for something foreign and highly desirable originally from Chinese with a much more offensive meaning, Southern Barbarian), 

and were traders.

They were described as

“They have some knowledge about the relationship between superior and inferior but otherwise do not know about property, therefore when they drink they do not use cups and when they eat  they use their fingers and not chopsticks… They show their feelings without any self control and are illiterate. They go from place to place, trading for things they do not have, they are not very strange and overall quite harmless”

The village chieftain sent them further north, where more rich and prosperous lands resided.

There the strangers traded something called “teppo” or Firearm… a stick that fired medicine dust, made a loud thunderous sound, and if you were hit by this would end your life instantly…

ODA NOBUNAGA

At the same time, In the Owari province located in central Japan a boy was growing up named Nobunaga of the relatively weak Oda clan

The Oda clan was not a great clan, like the much more powerful, Takeda, Uesugi, or Hojo clans (all located in the far East of Japan)

None of these great clans were able to march on Kyoto, capture the Emperor and become the new Shogun as they all kept each other in check. Anytime one tried this and amassed a large army, one of their great clan neighbors would attack them and force them to come back home to defend their lands.

Oda Nobunaga’s father was ruler of the Owari province (west of modern day Tokyo) and the Oda clan, whose nickname was “the Tiger of Owari”

Wanting his young son to be successful and to instill discipline and independence in him, he put him in control of a castle, and saw very little of his son.

Nobunaga was given the nickname “the fool of Owari” as he got into all kinds of mischief, running around with peasant boys.

Nobunaga was 16 years old when his father, who he had barely known died, Nobunaga although a 2nd son would inherit the Oda clan as his older brother was from a concubine and therefore illegitimate.

It has been said that Nobunaga acted outrageously during his father’s funeral, arriving inappropriately dressed and throwing ceremonial incense at the altar.

This convinced many Oda retainers of Nobunaga's mediocrity and lack of discipline. 

Hirate Masahide, a valuable mentor and retainer to Nobunaga, was ashamed by Nobunaga's behavior and performed seppuku. This had a huge effect on Nobunaga, who later built a temple to honor Masahide

This had a profound effect on Nobunaga and he got his act together.

Due to Nobunaga’s behavior the Oda clan split into different factions, some supported his soft-spoken and well-mannered younger brother, Nobuyuki.

Some supported his Uncle 

Some other Elder members of the Oda clan defected in defiance of Nobunaga to the neighboring, Imagawa clan

Nobuhiro the illegitimate elder half brother of Nobunaga was besieged in his castle Anjo,by the Imagawa who understanding the Oda’s fragile position attempted to extend their land. He was saved when Nobunaga handed over one of his hostages at Honshōji temple, nine-year-old Matsudaira Takechiyo 

Then Nobunaga captured his uncle who had taken refuge in a nearby castle, his uncle was forced to take his own life, Seppuku.

Nobunaga then faced his younger more popular brother Nobuyuki 

Nobuyuki had a stronger base of support in the Oda clan, this would be Nobunaga’s greatest challenge Hitherto, the Battle of Ino,

As Nobunaga’s army crossed the Otai River, a battle arose. Two Nobuyuki supporters wielding an army of 700 and 1,000 respectively met Nobunaga.  Nobunaga led less than 700 men.  Around noon, about one-half of Nobunaga’s army attacked the enemy forces, but owing to the numerical inferiority, Nobunaga was in a precarious situation.  When one of the armies approached Nobunaga’s main base, only forty soldiers with spears stood between him and the enemy forces. 

However, The Oda forces fought valiantly on the front lines of the battle Nobunaga was in the thick of it himself.  At that time, when Nobunaga screamed at the enemy, members of the enemy army were said to have fled in the midst of a battle.  According to the diary of a Jesuit missionary named Luís Fróis residing in Japan during this period, Nobunaga possessed an unusually loud voice.  Having reclaimed momentum, Nobunaga’s army attacked the other army.  

In the end, the forces fighting for Nobuyuki collapsed and fled in defeat.  Thereafter, supporters of Nobuyuki holed-up at nearby castles.  Nobunaga responded by burning down the towns below these castles.

Nobuyuki’s life was spared the fate of his uncle from the pleading of his and Nobunaga’s mother.

Nobuyuki treacherously planned an overthrow of Nobunaga however he was betrayed by his subordinates and Nobunaga had him assassinated. Thus ending the power struggle in the Oda clan.

Nobunaga had little time to rest as about a year after consolidating his power in Owari another great Daimyo, his neighbor and enemy of his father, Imagawa Yoshimoto of the Imagawa clan amassed a massive army of 25,000 men to march and take Kyoto. Yoshimoto deliberately announced he had a force of 40,000 troops amassed together with the purpose of aiding the dying, Ashikaga Shogunate.

While this statement put fear in many clans, Nobunaga saw through it. 
 Yoshimoto was able to secure his eastern flank and march without the other great clans challenging him by securing an alliance with his neighbors the Takeda and Hojo clans.

 The army followed the route of the Tokaido highway between the Imagawa and Kyoto was Owari province and Oda Nobunaga.

Nobunaga’s forces only numbered a mere 2-3,000 and his advisors suggested he take refuge at a nearby castle for protection.

Nobunaga refused stating "only a strong offensive policy could make up for the superior numbers of the enemy", and calmly ordered a counterattack against Yoshimoto.”

His advisors thought Nobunaga had gone insane, due to his stoic unmoved reaction and the idea of marching head on against an army that outnumbered him 10-1

Nobunaga told his advisors

"Imagawa has 40,000 men marching toward this place? I don't believe that. He 'only' has 25,000 soldiers. Yes, that is still too many. So, Sado, you want me to surrender. What if we do surrender? Will you get content with losing your life that way? Or what if we hold on like Katsuie wants me to? What if we stay here in this castle, lock it up, and wait until the Imagawas lose appetite and stop the siege and go home? We will be able to prolong our lives for five or ten days, and what we cannot defend will still be undefendable. We are at the bottom of the pit, you know. And our fate is interesting. Of course the misery is too great, too. But this is how I see it: this is a chance in a lifetime. I can't afford to miss this.Do you really want to spend your entire lives praying for longevity? We were born in order to die! Whoever is with me, come to the battlefield tomorrow morning. Whoever is not, just stay wherever you are and watch me win it!"

The evening before the attack, Nobunaga gathered his men, telling them that to wait would be suicide, and that it be best to attack the enemy head on, before sending them home to rest. He awoke early next morning, dressed, recited a passage from the song “Atsumori”, intoning that “Man has but 50 years, and life is but a dream,” he donned his armor and wolfed down a bowl of rice porridge while still standing and departed.

Imagawa yoshimoto due to his massive numerical superiority believed his victory to be assured and that Owari, Kyoto and the title of Shogun would be his.

Yoshimoto was already celebrating before the battle had even begun. Indulging himself in the Samurai’s favorite pastime, called Jikken where the severed head of the enemy would be presented before the Daimyo and began drinking.

Head collecting even while the battle was in full throttle was a common samurai practice, Samurai would fight over the decapitated heads of their enemies in order to perform Jikken.

The Imagawa army camped in a nearby gorge. 

This was Owari province Nobunaga had known the layout well and was familiar with this particular gorge since he spent time there as a child.

Nobunaga sent a small number of his soldiers to camp at the top of the gorge, there the men set up a large number of scarecrows with flags and banners, insight of the Imagawa army, fooling them into thinking the Oda army was camped to maintain the high ground.

Nobunaga took the remainder of his force and snuck around the Imagawa undetected, traversing through rice patties and completely exposing themselves to the enemy, had he been caught it would have been the end of Nobunaga and the Oda clan. Miraculously he was undetected 

A storm broke out and the large Imagawa army, most of whom by now were drunk went inside their tents for shelter.

Once the storm had cleared Nobunaga charged at the Imagawa camp,

Completely caught off guard the Imagawa army struggle to arm itself to mount a defense,

Yoshimoto thought the commotion coming from outside was his drunk peasant soldiers and ignored it. He was in the middle of a play and didn’t give any mind to the ruckus outside.

An Oda samurai entered his tent, completely dumbstruck Yoshimoto managed to dodge an oncoming spear attack, however a nearby samurai would decapitate him as he motioned away from the spear.

With the death of their Daimyo the army splintered and ran, they soon disintegrated and with this came the end of the great Imagawa clan.

The Battle of Okehazama is regarded as one of the most significant turning points in Japanese history and with it Oda Nobunaga would go down as one of Japan’s fiercest and most important Daimyo.

This battle was the first time Nobunaga noticed the talents of a peasant sandal-bearer Kinoshita Tōkichirō, who would eventually become Toyotomi Hideyoshi, at the time he went by the patronizing nickname “the Monkey”

He was given the nickname “Monkey” on account of his physical unattractiveness. He was also notoriously unfaithful to his wife, Nene, whom he married early on. 

After his triumphant victory many samurai pledged fealty to Nobunaga. Including one Matsudaira Takechiyo who would later take the name Tokugawa Ieyasu, this was the child Nobunaga had exchanged in order to save his besieged half-brother years earlier

After being exchanged as a hostage from Oda to Imagawa, Ieyasu pledge loyalty to the Imagawa to protect his lands (he was a hostage after all)

Ieyasu who in time would become known as “the old Badger” given this nickname because of his craftiness and famed ability to wait

Ieyasu was a smart man and was able to see where the wind was blowing, being the leader of the Tokugawa clan, he switched sides after the battle to serve Oda, not necessarily as a Vassal but a junior partner in the alliance.

Putting aside the great rivalry that had existed for decades between the neighboring Oda and Tokugawa clans.

The Tokugawa clan was located in modern day Tokyo east of the Oda’s homeland of Owari province, 

With the alliance between Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, Nobunaga’s eastern flank was secure. Enabling him to march on Kyoto 

Nobunaga who just a few years prior could barely muster a mere 700 soldiers was now revered throughout Japan as one of its most powerful and formidable Daimyo. The Imagawa clan who was destined to rule Japan was now usurped by the Oda

Today in Japan there is a famous poem

If a Bird Won't Sing ~ The Three Unifiers of Japan

It goes:

鳴かぬなら、殺してしまえほととぎす
 If a bird doesn't sing, kill it.

鳴かぬなら、鳴かして見せようほととぎす
 If a bird doesn't sing, make it.

鳴かぬなら、鳴くまで待とうほととぎす
 If a bird doesn't sing, wait for it.

It is said that the three great Unifiers of Japan were asked “What do you do if a bird won’t sing?”

Nobunaga yelled quickly, “Kill it!”

Hideyoshi answered, “Make it want to sing.”

Ieyasu smiled and answered, “Wait.”

END OF EPISODE 1