The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga Brill’s Japanese Studies Library Edited by Joshua Mostow (Managing Editor) Caroline Rose Kate Wildman Nakai published in cooperation with the netherlands association for japanese studies japonica neerlandica series VOLUME 36 The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga by Ōta Gyūichi Translated and edited by J.S.A. Elisonas and J.P. Lamers LEIDEN • BOSTON 2011 On the cover: The Oda family crest. The emblem, one of a category of heraldic devices called mokkō, is variously said to represent the cross section of a gourd, a bird’s nest, or the blossom of the japonica (Chaenomeles speciosa). Photograph by Elizabeth Pérez. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ota, Gyuichi, 1527–1610? [Shincho koki. English] The chronicle of Lord Nobunaga / by Ota Gyuichi ; translated and edited by J.S.A. Elisonas and J.P. Lamers. p. cm. — (Brill’s Japanese studies library ; v. 36) Includes index. ISBN 978-90-04-20162-0 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Oda, Nobunaga, 1534–1582. 2. Generals—Japan—Biography. 3. Japan—History—Period of civil wars, 1480–1603. I. Elisonas, J.S.A., 1937– II. Lamers, Jeroen Pieter, 1967– III. Title. IV. Series. DS869.O3O8213 2011 952’.023092—dc22 [B] 2011002440 This book was published with financial support from the Netherlands Association for Japanese Studies and the I.A. Ailion Foundation. ISSN 0925-6512 ISBN 978 90 04 20162 0 Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all right holders to any copyrighted material used in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the publisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other permission matters. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. GVLIELMO BOTIO ILLVSTRIS ACADEMIAE LVGDVNO BATAVAE PROFESSORI PERITISSIMO IN REBVS IAPONICIS COMMILITONES GEORGIVS HIERONYMVSQVE BENIGNISSIME DANT ET DEDICANT CONTENTS Preface .................................................................................................. ix List of Maps ........................................................................................ xix Chronology & Dramatis Personae .................................................. 3 Introduction ........................................................................................ 17 THE CHRONICLE OF LORD NOBUNAGA [“Initial Book”] This is a book on what happened before Nobunaga’s march on Kyoto. Ōta Izumi composed this ...................................................... 51 Book I Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. And it records the life of Lord Oda Danjō no Jō Nobunaga from Eiroku 11 [1568], the Year of Earth Senior and the Dragon ....................... 116 Book II Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Eiroku 12 [1569], the Year of Earth Junior and the Serpent .................................................................. 128 Book III Ōta Izumi composed this. Genki 1 [1570], the Year of Metal Senior and the Horse ......... 139 Book IV Ōta Izumi composed this. Genki 2 [1571], the Year of Metal Junior and the Sheep .......... 161 Book V Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Genki 3 [1572], the Year of Water Senior and the Monkey ................................................................. 168 Book VI Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Genki 4 [1573], the Year of Water Junior and the Bird ........................................................................ 178 viii contents Book VII Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Tenshō 2 [1574], the Year of Wood Senior and the Dog ........................................................................ 204 Book VIII Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Tenshō 3 [1575], the Year of Wood Junior and the Boar ....................................................................... 217 Book IX Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Tenshō 4 [1576], the Year of Fire Senior and the Rat ... 248 Book X Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Tenshō 5 [1577], the Year of Fire Junior and the Ox .... 261 Book XI Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Tenshō 6 [1578], the Year of Earth Senior and the Tiger ...................................................................... 278 Book XII Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Tenshō 7 [1579], the Year of Earth Junior and the Rabbit .................................................................... 308 Book XIII Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Tenshō 8 [1580], the Year of Metal Senior and the Dragon .................................................................. 351 Book XIV Ōta Izumi no Kami produced this. Tenshō 9 [1581], the Year of Metal Junior and the Serpent .................................................................. 383 Book XV Ōta Izumi no Kami composed this. Tenshō 10 [1582], the Year of Water Senior and the Horse ...................................................... 421 Index .................................................................................................... 479 PREFACE This is a Leiden project. It was conceived in Leiden, took form in Leiden, and has now been concluded with the publication of this book in Leiden. Institutions with roots in Leiden, above all the Isaac Alfred Ailion Foundation and the Netherlands Association for Japanese Stud- ies, generously supported the project’s completion. As we express our gratitude for that support, we also proclaim our high esteem for the environment that nourished this work. This is a collaborative project. Jeroen Lamers was its prime mover. Lamers first encountered the Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga in 1990 in a course taught by Professor Willem Boot at the Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies of Leiden University, and two years later submitted an annotated translation of the “Initial Book” in partial fulfillment of the graduation requirements at the University. When Jurgis Elisonas came to Leiden to spend the academic year 1994–1995 as a visiting scholar in the Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies, Lamers was engaged in writing his doctoral thesis, a political biography of Oda Nobunaga. The Chronicle was a major source for that study. As it was also a source of great interest to Elisonas, who had been doing research on Nobunaga since the seventies, it naturally became a con- stant topic of discussion between us. In 1996, Elisonas returned to Leiden at the invitation of the International Institute for Asian Stud- ies to give a masterclass (Lamers took part with a presentation on the Chronicle), and then once more took on the role of a visiting scholar at the Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies in the Arsenaal. We both remember fondly our daily séances with the spirit of Lord Nobu- naga by the Witte Singel that summer. It was then that Lamers raised the idea of our doing a complete English translation of the Chronicle as a joint enterprise. At the time, under the leadership of Professor Boot, the Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies of Leiden University was the abode of a truly remarkable group of scholars, one bound by the spirit of cama- raderie. It was the ideal setting for the start of our collaboration. So it is in memory of those happy days, in recognition of the debt of grati- tude that we owe him for many favors over the years, and as a sign of friendship that we dedicate this book to Wim Boot. x preface How was our collaboration pursued? We went about it at a delib- erate pace, preferring thoroughness to getting done quickly. To be sure, our unhurried progress, rather than fully voluntary, was to some extent determined by external circumstances, not the least of them geographical separation. But we persevered. We communicated fre- quently over the Internet. We met periodically to talk things over. We jointly pursued this endeavor in the Netherlands, the USA, and Japan, as well as in Korea. Throughout, we maintained a fully collaborative modus operandi. Lamers would write the first draft, Elisonas the sec- ond. We would then consult regarding the interim version—at times debating several variants vigorously until we reached a consensus. The ultima lima was applied to the text by Elisonas, who also takes the responsibility for the annotation. A brief account of some of the problems that we encountered along the way and our manner of handling them may be of interest. The proper conversion of dates is an essential part of dealing with premodern Japanese texts. Our guide in going about this fundamental task was the old reliable, Japanese Chronological Tables from 601 to 1872 A.D. by Paul Yachita Tsuchihashi SJ (Tokyo: Sophia University Press, 1952). In Japan, the lunar calendar was used; in Europe, the solar calendar. The years of the respective calendars overlapped, but were not cotermi- nous. The First Month of a given Japanese year was not the equivalent of the month of January in what is represented as the correspond- ing European year in reference