You did a great job on this. It's a nomination well-deserved.
Nobunaga’s Ambition Realized: Dawn of a New Rising Sun
- Thread starter Ambassador Huntsman
- Start date
You know I like your descriptor so much it will be added to the content of the recent update.
Very cool. Events in the Far East cannot have much direct impact on Europe, but could indeed have important tipping effects. The shorter TYW will have many knock-ons. Gustavus Adolphus lives; one assumes the Wittelsbachs regain the Palatinate, which has implications for England; etc.
I would suggest (with all respect) that discussions of European affairs be limited to general summaries. IMO, any attempt to narrate events in realistic detail would require so much effort that it would kill the on-going narrative of Japan and east Asia.
It does feel the ending of the conflict made Sweden be isolated from their allies, and the major difference from otl is that silesia is in the Protestant camp instead of being ruled by the Austrians, and we'd probably see all the nations focus on France eventually. Still curious if Sweden retains its power in what way tho, I could see them trying to take over their fellow Scandinavian countries for example.
Noted. I wanted to elaborate on TTL’s Thirty Years War, Franco-Spanish War, and Eighty Years War through how Spain fighting and then losing to the Japanese and subsequently losing lots of revenue affected the outcome and timing of those conflicts. For the latter two in particular, the powers involved are either already or will be deeply involved with Japan directly in the future, hence my elaboration.
The next couple chapters will focus exclusively on Japan and East Asia more generally, including surrounding the upcoming conflict mentioned in Chapter 55.
Yeah I got say for your TL You've clearly put a lot of time, effort, and effort into. Especially for it to be nominated within less than a year.
Chapter 55: Keizan’s Conspiracy - The Beginning of the Furuwatari War
Chapter 55: Keizan’s Conspiracy - The Beginning of the Furuwatari War
The letter Ujinobu received in 1637 was from a 35 year old traveling Buddhist priest named Keizan (桂三), formerly Saito Norioki and son of the infamous Saito Yoshioki. It detailed the supposed illegitimacy of the main Oda line’s rule over Japan all the way back to Nobutada and revealed that in fact Nobutada was not the firstborn son of Nobunaga. Rather, an individual named Furuwatari Nobumasa (古渡信正) was born between Nobunaga and a low-ranking woman in 1554 [1]. Although this would all be later proven to be true, Nobutada was nevertheless the eldest legitimate child of Nobunaga, being born between the latter and Kitsuno (吉乃), daughter of Koori Castle (小折城) lord Ikoma Iemune (生駒家宗) and also the mother of Kitabatake Nobuoki and Ujinobu’s own mother Tokuhime. Nobumasa himself had lived in obscurity, becoming the lord of Furuwatari Castle (古渡城) before retiring in 1585 and moving to Kyoto, where he took the tonsure and took the name Kenshouken (見性軒). In fact, he was still alive, although considered too old to be part of any plot. Rather, his 63 year old son Nobuhira (古渡信衡) was Keizan’s focus. In addition to technically being Nobunaga’s senior male descendant, his mother was Nobunaga’s illegitimate older brother Nobuhiro (織田信広)’s daughter Uyahime (恭姫), theoretically strengthening Nobuhira’s claim as the rightful ruler of Japan. These facts, up until now, were unknown among almost everyone, including the daijo-daijin himself. Only certain Oda vessels deep in Gifu and Owari provinces knew but were steadfastly loyal to the legitimate line of Oda clan heads first determined by Oda Nobunaga’s father when he chose Nobunaga as his successor in 1551.
Simplified Oda family tree
In any case, in his letter Keizan proposed taking arms against Azuchi and installing Nobuhira as the new daijo-daijin in order to right the “wrongs” of Nobutomo’s government. Keizan himself hoped to gather daimyo and minor lords with grievances against Nobutomo under this banner to re-enter public life and become a prominent part of the government like his father once was. Ujinobu eagerly accepted Keizan’s proposal and around the same time, Nobuhira secretly agreed to take part as the head of the rebellion after pressure from both Keizan and Nohuhira’s own retainers. Over the next few months, Ujinobu and Keizan stealthy sent messengers to sympathetic lords in the Oshu and Kanto regions as well as descendants of former Takeda and Uesugi retainers in Kai, Shinano, and Echigo provinces. All either joined the plot or would be silently neutral. Knowing that Tokugawa Tadayasu would not partake and possibly alert Azuchi, Ujinobu managed to get his cousin Matsudaira Mitsutada (松平光忠) [2] and his brother Tadayuki (松平忠之) [3], who were on bad relations with Tadayasu, to join the conspiracy in return for supporting Mitsutada in overthrowing his cousin and becoming the new head of the Tokugawa clan. Keizan would even visit Ujinobu at Odawara Castle (小田原城) where they hatched a plan to take out both Kamakura Tandai Oda Toshimasa and the 15 year old Gifu Castle lord Oda Nobutsugu (織田信嗣), who was also Nobutomo’s eldest son, simultaneously. For the attack on Gifu, Nobuhira and Keizan would jointly lead an army of around 5,000 consisting of anti-Nobutomo ronin from Owari and Gifu provinces, Nobuhira’s personal retinue, and others. Upon the commencement of these attacks, the rest of the conspirators would rise. The stage was set for their rebellion.
On September 22nd, 1637, Ujinobu stood before an army of 10,000 at Odawara. He made a speech before his men describing his grievances against Nobutomo, including disrespect towards the Kanto samurai not rewarded for their military contributions in the past war, direct taxation of many daimyo, the Hojo left out of political affairs, and usurpation of “many powers” from the Emperor. He also elaborated on the culpability of the Kamakura Tandai in upholding the “immoral tyranny” of Azuchi over the samurai of the Kanto region. Ujinobu then unsheathed his katana and, pointing towards the direction of Kamakura, concluded with this line that would go down in history:
On September 22nd, 1637, Ujinobu stood before an army of 10,000 at Odawara. He made a speech before his men describing his grievances against Nobutomo, including disrespect towards the Kanto samurai not rewarded for their military contributions in the past war, direct taxation of many daimyo, the Hojo left out of political affairs, and usurpation of “many powers” from the Emperor. He also elaborated on the culpability of the Kamakura Tandai in upholding the “immoral tyranny” of Azuchi over the samurai of the Kanto region. Ujinobu then unsheathed his katana and, pointing towards the direction of Kamakura, concluded with this line that would go down in history:
“敵は鎌倉にあり!!” (Teki wa Kamakura ni ari!!/The enemy is at Kamakura!!) [4]
That night, Toshimasa was staying at Komyo-ji (光明寺) in Kamakura. In his old age, he had become a devout Buddhist and patronized the fine arts, including sado, and thus had begun visiting various temples on a regular basis. With him were a few hundred men as well as his son and heir, Toshihide. Ujinobu was well-aware of his supposed master’s habits and exploited this knowledge to his advantage, finding out which temple he was staying in from spies. Around 9:00 pm, after a stealthy march where the Hojo army split into 2 contingents that entered Kamakura one at a time, with Oota Sukemune (太田資宗) leading the first contingent and initiating the attack on Komyo-ji. The Hojo army quickly surrounded the temple before sending in wave after wave of men armed with swords, spears, and arquebuses. Toshimasa and Toshihide led the Oda defense inside the temple, the latter striking Hojo ashigaru with a bow. Amidst the fighting, a barrage of arquebus fire mortally wounded Toshimasa and forced Toshihide into the temple, where he would commit seppuku. However, his body would not be recovered as Komyo-ji ultimately burnt down. The Hojo would face some resistance within Kamakura from minor Oda retainers and their retinues, although many samurai would flee Kamakura back to their fiefs.
Sketch of the storming of Komyo-ji
On the same day, Keizan and Nobuhira led their army of 5,000 to Gifu Castle along with a decent number of cannons to use against the fortifications. They encountered greater resistance in the streets of the city from Gifu magistrate Hayashi Masatoshi (林政利) [5] and other retainers, although Masatoshi was outnumbered and would be forced to retreat. Keizan and Nobuhira successfully reached the castle where they began to besiege Nobutsugu and his guardian Oda Hisanaga. Despite the usage of cannons and arquebus fire against the besieged, the young castle lord did not flee and with the support of his guardian provided resistance stiffer than expected, and the castle would not fall that night. The castle continued to hold out over the coming days despite Hisanaga getting killed while leading a charge against the Furuwatari rebels. Keizan and Nobuhira’s men struggled not only against the fierce resistance from Gifu Castle but also from hit-and-run attacks waged by retainers who remained in the city and had gone underground with the secret support of the townsfolk and merchants. Outside the city, the Gifu magistrate sent a messenger to Azuchi amidst his own efforts in gathering a force strong enough to oust the rebels, with the daijo-daijin receiving the news of the rebellion within days. Nobutomo resolved to personally lead an army against Keizan and quickly crush the rebellion. He gathered an army of 10,000 within a week and marched to Gifu in 5 days, coincidentally around the same time as Masatoshi’s gathered force of 5,000. By then, Keizan’s army had been weakened from unsuccessful assaults on the castle and skirmishes with Oda retainers in the streets. Within a few hours, the armies of Nobutomo and Masatoshi easily expelled Keizan and Nobuhira, both of whom fled south back to Furuwatari Castle in such a disorganized hurry that they left all of the cannons they possessed in the city.
Modern day Gifu Castle
Jubilant celebration and relief followed the liberation of Gifu Castle from the siege, but it would be cut short by news regarding the events in Kamakura. It would take longer for the two uprisings to be linked together by Nobutomo and his government. What was certain was that a long road lay ahead before internal peace could be restored again.
[1]: Two sources refer to the existence of “Oda Nobumasa”, one of which is the inspiration for this plot.
[2]: ITTL’s Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光)
[3]: ITTL’s Tokugawa Tadanaga (徳川忠長)
[4]: Total reference to Akechi Mitsuhide’s infamous words
[5]: ITTL’s Inaba Masatoshi (稲葉正利) as his father Inaba Masanari (稲葉正成) is never adopted by Inaba Shigemichi (稲葉重通)
[1]: Two sources refer to the existence of “Oda Nobumasa”, one of which is the inspiration for this plot.
[2]: ITTL’s Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光)
[3]: ITTL’s Tokugawa Tadanaga (徳川忠長)
[4]: Total reference to Akechi Mitsuhide’s infamous words
[5]: ITTL’s Inaba Masatoshi (稲葉正利) as his father Inaba Masanari (稲葉正成) is never adopted by Inaba Shigemichi (稲葉重通)
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Things are heating up yet again. I had a feeling that the Kanto plain and Kamakura would feature again in this narrative - they're too important not to.
Is this from Taiheiki? I actually own a DVD set of the first half of the drama.
The Church of Yamato is still generally on the side of the Oda clan as historically they've been religiously tolerant and Catholicism was suppressed for purely political reasons. Also, the Kanto and Oshu regions are the least Christian parts of Japan so if any Catholic peasants rebel, it would be purely out of opportunism.
How Buddhists are reacting? Any effect of more active japan on nichiren buddhism? They are most missionary focused among Buddhists. Will we some sorta proto sokka gokai organization.
Just the first half? I've already finished it (in 480p, unfortunately) on kissasian.pe!
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Yeah I agree, the Kanto plain would always be the centre of conservatism as power in Japan stays in Osaka plain or shifts south and westwards. It'd be a balance of interests between the two factions that makes Japan Japan ittl I think.
Yeah I agree which is why I think there should be a bunch of Buddhist temples around beiritou and the Philippines, and we should have a bunch of Chinese and native converts.