THE SUCCESSION
BATTLES OF ODA NOBUNAGA'S
F---A---M---I---L---Y
Oda Nobunaga's first son from Lady Ikoma Kitsuno (click here for her story and pictures), Oda Nobutada, who was the best to succeed him because he shared a lot of the father's characteristics (even his good looks), died at the age of 25 in Kyoto when Akechi Mitsuhide attacked Oda Nobunaga. All Oda's sons were Generals, but only Nobutada really fitted into the shoes of one. Anyway, Nobutada had a kid, Oda Hidenobu (Samboshi). He was only two or three years old when the issue of succession was brought to the old seat of the clan, Kiyosu castle, by the Generals.
The second son was Oda Nobuo, in early twenties, a far cry from his late brother Nobutada, and certainly couldn't suffer comparison with his dad Nobunaga. The third son was Oda Nobutaka, a bit better than Nobuo in martial arts and leadership, but he, too, lacked a great deal: he couldn't summon his guts to make a stand on his own. Nobuo and Nobutaka were of the same age. They were born in the same year, by different mothers. Because Oda Nobuo's mom came from Lord Ikeda's clan, while Nobutaka's mother was a daughter of an obscure local samurai, Nobuo was called 'the second son' while Nobutaka the third, along the line of succession. Both wanted to be THE Oda of their time, but Toyotomi Hideyoshi (click here for story and pictures) shocked them and everyone else by citing the rule of succession that the true heir of Oda Nobunaga's was Oda Hidenobu, the infant. This was right, according to the Japanese customs. Toyotomi didn't just make it up, even if he brought it up to his own advantage. Takeda Katsuyori of Kai suffered the same predicament when his father Shingen preferred to give the legacy to the grandson Takemaru. Anyway, Nobuo instantly backed Toyotomi up, because all he wanted was to rid of Nobutaka or at least eliminating his chances. The Oda Generals took sides, and a war at Shizugatake ensued. An ugly war that would lead to the end of the whole clan. Though the war was inconclusive, Oda Nobuo managed to talk Nobutaka into suicide. People said this was done by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's persuasion. One son of Oda Nobunaga was gone. For nothing.
THE FOLLOWING ODA GENERALS BACKED ODA NOBUTAKA UP:
AND THESE ODA GENERALS WERE AT ODA SAMBOSHI'S SIDE:
Then Nobuo sought Tokugawa Ieyasu's help to establish him as the head of the Oda clan. This put Tokugawa into a war against Toyotomi. Another pointless, useless, inconclusive war. Whatever happened to Oda Hidenobu was unclear those days -- people only heard of him again in the fatal Sekigahara battle of 1600, after which he sunk back to the realm of the unheard-of. Nobuo followed Toyotomi and survived until old age (to be exact, 72). Toyotomi got Oda Nobunaga's legacy for himself, and Tokugawa waited for his turn (click here for a more 'scientific' chronology of events).
After Toyotomi Hideyoshi died, in early 1600's Tokugawa Ieyasu decided to finish the just-starting Toyotomi clan off for good. Toyotomi Hideyori, Hideyoshi's and Yodogimi's one and only son, had grown up to be a fine Chief Minister ('Kuampaku' in Japanese) promising to be worthy of the hereditary office, and looking a whole lot handsomer than his late dad whose nickname was 'the Monkey King'. It was, in retrospect, not so much of a lifelong insult; the thousands-of-years-old Chinese legend of the Monley King tells us that the king is, while plucky and reckless and never cares about manners, the finest paragon of chivalry and bravery and excellence in martial arts. Not many people believed that Hideyori was Hideyoshi's own son -- nobody knows for sure today, either. He was born when his daddy was already 64 years old, in the middle of the Japanesely dreamlike campaign to invade Korea, and before he could even utter a meaningful syllable the dad had passed away. And Tokugawa Ieyasu was reportedly among those who disreputed Hideyori's legitimity most vehemently. (Click here for story and pictures of Hideyori's mom, herself one of the most famous women in the history of Japan). Anyway, the new and good-looking Toyotomi was a threat to Tokugawa Ieyasu's own plans for the future. Always thinking, like, 500 years ahead of everybody else, Tokugawa knew the 'final solution' was inevitable. After the 1615 battle of Osaka, where Toyotomi Hideyoshi's most loyal vassals reinforced by the Christian samurai from all over Japan (click here for history, pictures & profiles of Christian samurai and warlords) fought for Hideyori and his mother Yodo, the two finally committed suicide on a tower, witnessed from below by Tokugawa Ieyasu together with his son and heir Tokugawa Hidetada. This luckiest young man was Shogun Tokugawa II. Ieyasu himself died in 1616 as a result of a wound he got in this war.
So in 1603 Japan got united and stayed united for a long time, and Tokugawa Hidetada never shared the fate of the sons of his daddy's former allies. He lived happily ever after, or sort of. His clan's grip on Japan was unshakable until 1868 (click here for what that means). And as usual, weird things happened in this tale, too: Tokugawa Hidetada, the second Shogun, besides marrying Toyotomi Hideyori's aunt (Lady Yodo's sister; click here for history and pictures), also had a daughter named Sen (people called her 'Princess Sen', though the correct address would have been 'Lady' Sen). This woman married none other than Toyotomi Hideyori himself. After Toyotomi's death when her daddy (and her grandfather Ieyasu) attacked the Osaka castle, she married Honda Tadatoshi, a faithful Tokugawa vassal. She did this even though Tokugawa Ieyasu promised his soldiers that whoever was able to take Sen alive from Toyotomi's burning castle would be taken as a grandson in-law and married to her. But Sen had her own thoughts; Honda was said to be very handsome, much more than the actual rescuer. |
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