History of Asia

Why did Nobunaga Oda change his residence one after another? ② Gifu Castle-Azuchi Castle

At the Battle of Mt. Inaba Nemesis Saito family Nobunaga Oda who destroyed. From here, Nobunaga will accelerate to unify the world.

Inabayama Castle * After the fall, Nobunaga decides to move the base from Mt. Komaki to Mt. Inaba.

And the name of the castle and town is [ Mt. Inaba ] To [ Gifu ] I named it.

It is said that King Wen of the Zhou dynasty named it after the settlement of the world by Qishan in ancient China. Also, from around this time, Nobunaga was conscious of the world, [ Tenka Fubu ] Will be used. * Hereafter referred to as Gifu Castle.

Move the castle to Gifu Castle

Now, let's think about the reason for moving the base to Gifu.

This Gifu castle is a mountain castle that stands on the top of Mt. Kinka. is. In general, Yamashiro has limited water, and supplies are limited to the accumulated amount. Therefore, it is not suitable for Siege.

However, if the surrounding territories, such as branch castles, are under your control, you are more likely to be immortal because you don't have much time to give to the attacker. In fact, Nobunaga was also defeated as a result of his aggressive attack in the early days of the Mino attack.

The true value of this Gifu castle is view and advantage of the land It is in. The idea is Mino as a whole castle It means to catch it.

Gifu Castle is a mountain castle that can be seen far from the main enclosure at the top of the mountain.

Even now, you can see from the center of Nagoya in the south to Sekigahara in the west, but you can quickly find an intruder in Mino.

Nagara River seen from the main circle

Scenery on the Nagoya side

It is still this view even now when buildings and houses are built. During the Warring States period, there would have been more open scenery.

Furthermore, the positions of the Nagara and Kiso rivers are also exquisite, where you can form a defense line and stop the invasion of enemies. In the worst case, even if you cross the river, you will be able to hit out in the vast Norio Plain, so you will be able to fully prepare your army.

As an image, Mt. Kinka and Gifu Castle are the main circle As a natural moat on the Kiso and Nagara rivers As a natural fortress that forms a line of defense with the vast Noo Plain It's like that.

Nobunaga probably decided to move to Gifu based on such a rational idea.

However, no matter how rational, the Sengoku warlords at that time did not move their base to the front line and were on an expensive expedition.

Even Kenshin Uesugi has been in Kasugayama Castle in Echigo for a long time, so it feels like he's not in the Kanto region even though he's in the Kanto region. Hojo, who had the vast Kanto region in his hands, also set up his residence in Odawara Castle at the western end of the Kanto region.

The idea that even if the number of territories increased in this way, it would not be separated from the ancestral lands was commonplace for the Sengoku daimyo at that time.

About 10 years from here to the construction of Azuchi Castle Based in Gifu Castle,

  • 1568 Joraku in honor of Yoshiaki Ashikaga
  • 1570 Defeats Asai and Asakura in the Battle of Anegawa
  • Expulsion of Yoshiaki Ashikaga in 1573, virtually destroying the Muromachi Shogunate
  • 1573 Battle of Nagashino

* These events will be written in other articles.

After events such as, it will be the construction of Azuchi Castle.

Azuchi Castle

1576 Nobunaga is 1st basement floor, 6th floor above ground, 32m on Mt. Azuchi. Azuchi Castle of huge high-rise building To build a castle.

The goal at that time was to capture Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple in Osaka and the Chugoku region.

In the east, Ieyasu Tokugawa was invading Totomi, so it is natural for Nobunaga to head west.

As of 1576, Kenshin Uesugi of Echigo and hostile relations It was in. The Hokuriku region is Shibata Katsuie Although it is left to the invasion, it is not strange to invade at any time. Also, Ishiyama Hongan-ji Is alive and well, so Ikko-ikki's vigilance such as Echizen I have to.

If you come to this point, you have the option of moving your castle to Kyoto, but you can reach Kyoto from Azuchi on the shores of Lake Biwa in about half a day by waterway. Therefore, there is no need to move the castle to Kyoto.

If you move your castle to Kyoto, the Tokai region will be neglected. Rather, the intention to suppress both economies in Azuchi between Kyoto and Owari There is.

Looking at all the literature, Azuchi Castle is gorgeous It is written that he was proud of.

If it's a castle for fighting like a traditional castle, it doesn't have to be gorgeous at all. Rather, what makes it stand out is just to give a target to the attacking enemy, which is counterproductive.

At the beginning of the castle construction, Oda's sphere of influence was almost in the hands of the Tokai region and above. Therefore, the area around Azuchi was almost my territory.

Perhaps they didn't expect to fight in Azuchi. So Nobunaga built a castle with a political side rather than a military castle . I think I did.

He made this gorgeous heavenly lord visible from everywhere in his castle town and showed his authority. By doing so, I impressed people that it would be a different world if it became Nobunaga's world.

As proof of this, Nobunaga often holds sumo tournaments under the castle, lights up the castle tower, and holds an event to see the main castle on New Year's Day with an admission fee.

These ideas were inherited by Hideyoshi later, and gorgeous Osaka Castle and Jurakudai Was built.

In that sense, Azuchi Castle was an epoch-making castle as Japan's first modern castle.

However, only three years after the completion of Azuchi Castle, Nobunaga Akechi Mitsuhide at the Honnoji Incident. This Azuchi castle is the last residence It will be.

According to a recent study, Nobunaga had a plan to move his base to Osaka, which would later become Hideyoshi's residence.

It is difficult to clarify the intention of moving the base to Osaka because Nobunaga was defeated. However, if you look at history, you can see that in the process of advancing Tenkafubu, the bases have been changed to more suitable places one after another.

What was the future forecast of Nobunaga's Tenka Fubu, which could not be seen due to the Honnoji Incident? I am wondering what kind of history it would have been if Nobunaga had unified the world as it was.