1,000 PICTURES OF ODA NOBUNAGA
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There is no other Japanese warlord that has been constantly visualised in every way by every generation since he turned 15 to eternity, like Oda Nobunaga. There is just one reason for that; all and everything about, in, on, around him were too boldly chiseled to miss, regardless of the fact that the way he be on this planet was essentially like Warner Bros' Tazmanian Devil dropping by for snacks. Compare his case with that of his ally Tokugawa Ieyasu. The Tokugawa clan tightly kept Japan under control for two hundred and fifty-four years; it's only normal that Ieyasu and his offsprings got as many reviews, rumors and stalkers as the entire cast of last century's TV series Friends, and they got stacks of portraits made by anyone who cared to, doesn't matter they wanted those or not. The patriarch Ieyasu, in that matter, have been getting as much of the stuff as the rest of the clan put together -- but that, anyhow, not much. Oda Nobunaga only got a grip on Japan United for nine years. Yet, that Oda was once in this insufferable world has been remembered just as (I tend to think more than) Tokugawa Ieyasu's presence. Ieyasu was, in life, impenetrable. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was complicated. Oda Nobunaga, the foreperson in this immortal trio of 'unifiers of Japan', was wide open for hyperbolists and caricaturists and childhood enemies -- this doesn't mean he was the easiest to dig; only he never cared a fig whether you did or not at all. Here is a description of Oda's physical characteristix and personality, translated from some Portuguese missionaries' notes by Walter Dixon: "He is a prince of large stature, but with delicate complexion; with a heart and soul that supplied all other wants; ambitious above all mankind; brave, generous, and bold, and not without many excellent moral virtues; inclined to justice, and an enemy to treason. With a quick and penetrating wit, he seemed cut out for business.....never using any heads but his own. He sought to see into others, and to conceal his own counsel, being very secret in his designs. If he asked advice, it was more to know their hearts than to profit by their advice." And now, here are around 500 different paintings, drawings, photos, sculptures, prints, reliefs, statues, models, dolls, feature films, animation movies, and so on down to utterly useless gadgets and all sorts of disposables that bear the images of Oda Nobunaga according to whoever created them since the year 1573 until approximately yesterday morning. The variety of how Oda's face is supposed to look like is maddening, but perhaps each and every one of them catches something of the real Oda, that remains to a great part an enigma. I'd like to thank everybody who has sent me some of the pictures above, whether they're pix that they found somewhere or ones that they painted or drawn by themselves. Their names are attached to the entries. If you'd be so kind to add to this collection, I would really be very much indebted to you -- please send the pictures to amayadori@myway.com. Thank you so very much in advance. And to answer the unasked: no, I don't disable right-clicking of your mouse on any pic at this site. I wouldn't even have cranked up this site if I agree with those people that got unreasonably protective about their so-called 'creation' online. I love Oda Nobunaga enough to want to share his everything with everyone. The more people are having Oda Nobunaga's pictures, the happier I would be. If more Oda Nobunaga fan sites are launched out there, that would be heaven to me. Such attitude is the true meaning of the word 'fan'. Besides, this site has been exceeding its quota of 3 GB weekly bandwith since a year ago -- you don't think I'd have any idea to run a monopoly on Oda Nobunaga's pix, do you, in that case? Peace.
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