#toyotomi hidenaga

[odaclan]

Beat Takeshi stars as Hideyoshi in “Kubi” 首, a movie where he’s also involved in the scriptwriting, and also is the director! 

To think that this showed up not long after I shared that old Toyota advertisement! However, unlike the more positive Hideyoshi image in the Toyota ad, the PR of this movie says that the plot follows the “Hideyoshi is the mastermind behind Honnouji” conspiracy. So we can expect a scheming, or even a somewhat sinister Hideyoshi in this production. 

加瀬亮 Kase Ryou will play as Nobunaga, 西島秀俊 Nishijima Hidetoshi as Mitsuhide, 浅野忠信 Asano Tadanobu as Kuroda Kanbei, and 大森南朋 Ōmori Nao as Hideyoshi’s brother Hidenaga. 

It’s always a little strange to me, to see a ridiculously old Hideyoshi when the actor cast as Nobunaga is much younger, but it’s a thing that’s very commonly done in Japanese live action productions and illustrated artwork.

[daeva-agas]

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the 2026 Taiga drama is about Hidenaga!!!

"Toyotomi Brothers" the title says

The summary seems alright, since it said the brothers were dreaming of a world with no fighting and stuff, but fffffssss... Hoping with all my might that it won't have an "evulz Hideyoshi" plot, because it's all portrayed in such baseless ways and sensationalised and I just hate them.

Like, I generally don't mind a narrative of someone with good intentions get caught up in difficult situation, and has simply could not take the mental strain and just deteriorate. I'm ok with it with Nobu and Hide both. It's just... I don't know if it's just the culture of Japanese storytelling in general to be overdramatic, or if Japanese writers are just too tied to tropes.

All of the so-called "realistic" attempt of Sengoku adaptations are still so tropey as hell and I just had to nope out.

I sure damn hope this drama won't be about "Hidenaga watches in despair as his brother slowly turn evil".

[samurailoveballadhistory]

There was never anything so dramatic like that in the many many variations of Hideyoshi’s backstory. His family was fine historically. Only his father perished, but his mother and siblings are all fine, and they even played roles in Hideyoshi’s political moves. Though, since there are accounts of Hideyoshi personally telling people he doesn’t know his “parents’” name, there were new theories speculating that these family members were adopted family, and Hideyoshi’s birth parents are completely unknown. 

The story about being a beggar on the streets is also based on some new theories that speculated Hideyoshi may have been living as some sort of  aimless vagrant before serving Nobunaga, and not the “needle peddler” as was previously popularly known. Ankokuji Eikei, an influential monk, wrote that Hideyoshi was of lowly origins “that is no different from beggars”. Hanbei’s son wrote in his records that “Hideyoshi was the son of nameless low-class citizens”. I’m seeing some articles claiming that there’s an area near Kiyosu that is basically a “beggar slum” too. 

In the SLBP universe, Hideyoshi’s brother’s fate is never explicitly mentioned, and he just never even showed up at all, but the vague references made in the various story events implied that this brother is already long dead. Perhaps during that time on the streets that he was talking about, the brother didn’t survive.

Historically, Hideyoshi and his brother Hidenaga served Nobunaga together. Many lore and tales described Hidenaga as Hideyoshi’s right hand, the one he trusted and relied on above anyone else. Maybe it’s exaggerated, as tales of brotherhood is a popular subject in Japanese storytelling, but at any rate, Hidenaga was one of Hideyoshi’s top commanders. 

It’s even less clear how the brother entered Nobunaga’s service historically, as all the Hideyoshi stories told of him striking out on his own. Maybe after he was employed, he asked for permission to bring his brother too. 

[jibuyo]

What can you tell me about Toyotomi Hidenaga? How important was he too Hideyoshi's rise to power?

Hidenaga was Hideyoshi’s right arm. He led the subjugation to Shikoku in Hideyoshi’s stead and he contributed heavily during subjugation of Kyushu (he was a supreme commander leading forces from Hyuga province and it was him who made peace with Shimazu Iehisa).

He had a warm personality, great political and domestic skills and he had traits Hideyoshi lacked (and together they supplemented each other). 

It’s said he was a pillar of the Toyotomi clan and that he was the one who was holding Hideyoshi back (it’s said he was against Korea, but that might just be speculations, idk), but as long as he was alive you don’t really hear much about Hideyoshi being violent - making peace agreements, using money to get a castle etc. (but again, it could just be people romanticizing things) 

One of the theory about Sen no Rikyu’s death is that he was forced to commit seppuku, because Hidenaga wasn’t there to make peace between Rikyu and Hideyoshi (Hidenaga and Rikyu got along really well). And Rikyu’s seppuku is pretty much a beginning of Hideyoshi’s “dark times” - Rikyu’s seppuku, Korea, Hidetsugu (months before Hidetsugu, Hideyasu - Hidenaga’s heir, Hidetsugu’s brother - died and some speculate it wasn’t a natural death. Hideyoshi didn’t allow the Yamato-Toyotomi line to continue, he could imho literally put any of Hidetsugu’s children as a head of Yamato-Toyotomi, because at that time there was no “Hidetsugu is planning to rebel” yet, or allow Todo Takayoshi to be re-adopted, but he didn’t).

Until his death, Hidenaga was the one who was supporting Hideyoshi’s system and administration the most. His own lands were prosperous and there weren’t any problems during his rule over several provinces either.

But the thing is, there aren’t many records about Hidenaga, actually. After Otomo Sorin surrendered and went to Osaka, he apparently said: “the public affairs are left to Hidenaga, the internal affairs to Rikyu”.

(I like Hidenaga, so I might be biased, though.)

[skyhopedango]

NobuCon ch101

So, after a string of cute but mostly relaxed chapters the plot swings into motion again... ever so slowly, but still. We have Mitsunari on the intro page, as this is kind of a Mitsunari chapter. (In the manga he still goes by Sakichi, btw, I just find it easier to call him Mitsunari.)

So anyway, it’s July 1581, and Ashikaga “Technically Still Shougun” Yoshiaki is doing what he does best: he’s seething about Nobunaga. Because Nobunaga's star is still rising. His conquests are going well! His alliances are florishing! And he even held a huge parade for the emperor in chapter 98! (This parade, called the Kyoto Oumazoroe, is famous for being a very large-scale, very extravagant military parade that showcased Nobunaga’s immense military and political power.) 

And the damn man just won’t die! Yoshiaki flashes back to Goemon cheerfully informing him that he screwed up the assassination. He helpfully tells Yoshiaki that if he wants the job done then perhaps he should hire actual ninja. Hmmm, could this be a foreshadowing? Maybe, maybe not. In any case, Goemon has another advice to Yoshiaki: that perhaps Yoshiaki could just, you know, finally get a clue, and live out the rest of his life in peace and quiet. Because he’s obviously way out of his depth at this point.

"Kubou-sama... It’s not so bad to just swim around in the fishbowl we were given, like I do. After all, no matter how he tries, a koi in a pond can never be like the fish in the ocean.” “What? What are you trying to say?” “...Never mind.”

After the flashback Yoshiaki has a surprise visitor: Ankokuji Ekei. Ekei has overheard Yoshiaki muttering about how much he hates ninja, and is very curious about wtf Yoshiaki has been up to. Yoshiaki is like a sulky teenager as he fesses up about the assassination attempt. Failed assassination attempt. 

“If you send out an assassin then make sure he gets the job done.”

Ekei explains, for what must be the millionth time by now, that if Yoshiaki screws up he’ll get the Mouri in trouble, but Yoshiaki just DOES. NOT. GET IT. Like, don’t the Mouri want Nobunaga to die as well?! Huh?! And Ekei tells him, for what must be the millionth time by now, that the Mouri are doing him a favor sheltering him, and they’re not going to risk anything for Yoshiaki’s personal vendetta.

Yoshiaki sulks and changes the topic. So what about Hideyoshi? Has Ekei managed to convince him to join their cause and turn against Nobunaga? Ekei muses about his mission, and thinks that Hideyoshi might just be too poisonous for the Mouri.

And speaking of Hideyoshi... he’s still out there subjugating Chuugoku, and doing a pretty good job of it. But a bit too many suspicious things have been happening lately, what with the whole situation with Hanbee, and then the assassination attempt. Mitsunari, having been in the middle of it all, has some doubt in his heart... 

Hidenaga notices the looks Mitsunari keeps giving Hideyoshi, and decides to have a little heart-to-heart with the young man. And when Mitsunari gathers the courage to get straight to the point...

“Is [Hideyoshi] thinking about killing Nobunaga-sama?”

...Hidenaga just grins and gives this absolutely shameless “Kid, we’re the villains here” speech. Sakichi, he says, do you not want Nobunaga to die? Why? Because it’s “not right”? Don’t kid yourself, your mind has been made up from the moment you called my brother beautiful. ‘Cause don’t tell me you love him for his pretty face, he ain’t got one.

“You’re enthralled by him for who he is. Just like me.”

And you see, he continues, people like Takenaka Hanbee were attracted to Nobunaga’s radiance, and died for it. But people like Mitsunari or himself are attracted to darkness. It’s not logical, it’s not something that can be explained - it’s just the way they are. So Mitsunari should accept this and own up to it.

“You belong here, Sakichi. Didn’t I tell you? Follow your heart. That is the only right way to go... even when it’s ‘wrong’.”

Mitsunari staggers out into the rain, remembering Hanbee’s words about how some people choose to go against what is right, and how it’s impossible for others to understand what led them to that decision. The tagline would like us to wonder about what his choice will be, but since this is Ishida Mitsunari we all know already. 

I keep saying this over and over again but man, I love Hidenaga. He’s just so delightfully immoral and terrible, and is clearly having tons of fun being the way he is. Hideyoshi is pretty much the only thing he cares for, and even a large part of that is self-gratification and just plain having fun. He’s been Hideyoshi’s evil spirit since the time they first met (reunited, anyway), but he’s also been a demonic figure in the lives of Hanbee, and now Mitsunari as well.

Like, obviously, he’s a creep and a cold-blooded, murderous asshole. But he’s so damn fun. And it’s always hilarious when Hideyoshi loses his patience with him. In any other story he’d probably get his comeuppance eventually, but since this is based on history we know that he’ll live and continue being Hideyoshi’s indispensable, albeit dangerous and annoying, right-hand man for another ten years.

[itsmarjudgelove]

Heroes of Sekigahara--Todo Takatora

Famed for his expertise in castle design, Todo Takatora was born in Todo Village, Omi Province. He commenced his military career as a lowly ashigaru foot soldier, working his way up to the rank of daimyo. He changed his allegiance seven times, working for ten warlords. Takatora fought under General Hashiba Hidenaga, the younger brother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, later becoming commander of the fleet that sailed to Korea. His legacy is having left some 20 well-designed castles across the nation.

At Sekigahara, he joined the Eastern forces, and despite his having once been loyal to the Toyotomi clan, became close friends and a confidante of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The battle flag he used at Sekigahara was a black based flag with three white circles on it. The circles were supposed to represent mochi, pounded rice cakes. The story goes that as a young man, while passing through Toyohashi (Aichi Prefecture) he stopped by a mochi stall run by a former vassal of Oda Nobunaga, and ate all of the man's mochi before revealing that he had no money. Instead of getting angry, the former samurai gave Takatora traveling money, and asked him to pay when he could. Deeply touched, Takatora remembered the man as he rose up in the world, and as a captain and chose to use the mochi motif on his battle flags. As a Daimyo, en route to Edo, he stopped in Toyohashi and along with his large retinue, patronised the mochi shop every time.

[renwritesrandomthings]

竹田城跡

I initially thought the ruins was related to Takeda Shingen. But, the kanji is 竹田 (Takeda) as bamboo fields. The place was conquered by Toyotomi Hidenaga, Hideyoshi's half-brother. Then, later on became one of the battle fields for Sekigahara.

Kinda reminded of Laputa~ Castle in the Sky~  <3 Another place to visit.

https://www.nippon.com/en/guide-to-japan/gu900054/japan%E2%80%99s-fortress-in-the-clouds-the-takeda-castle-ruins.html

[chanoyu-to-wa]

Appendix:  the Rikyū Hyakkai Ki, Part 34:  (1591) Intercalated First Month, Sixteenth Day, Midday.

94) Intercalated First Month, Sixteenth Day; Midday¹.

￮ Kuwayama shūri dono  [桑山修理殿]², Aoki Kii-no-kami [青木紀伊守]³, Maeno Izumo-no-kami dono  [前野出雲守殿]⁴.

￮ 4.5-mat [room]⁵.

￮ Hairyō kama  [拜領釜]⁶; ◦ Shigaraki mizusashi  [しがらき水指]⁷; ◦ chaire ・ ko-natsume  [茶入・小ナツメ]⁸; ◦ kuro-chawan  [くろ茶碗]⁹; ◦ ori-tame  [をりため]¹⁰; ◦ take-no-wa  [竹のわ]¹¹; ◦ Hashi-date  [はしだて]¹².

￮ Kamaboko  [かまぼこ]¹³; ◦ kō-no-mono  [かうのもの]¹⁴; ◦ konowata  [このわた]¹⁵; ◦ miso-yaki jiru  [みそ燒汁]¹⁶; ◦ meshi  [めし]¹⁷.

￮ Hikite  [引て]: ◦ koi no sashimi  [鯉のさしみ]¹⁸.

￮ Kashi  [菓子]: ◦ fu-no-yaki  [ふのやき]¹⁹; ◦ kuri  [くり]²⁰.

_________________________

¹Urū-shōgatsu jūroku-nichi ・ hiru  [閏正月十六日・晝].

    The Gregorian date was March 16, 1591.

²Kuwayama shūri dono  [桑山修理殿].

   This was the daimyō-nobleman Kuwayama Shigeharu [桑山重晴; 1524 ~ 1606], who was Master of the Office of Palace Repairs (shūri-daibu [修理大夫], which earned the incumbent the junior grade of the Fifth Rank).

    He had also been a senior councilor of (the late) Toyotomi Hidenaga (who had died, of illness, during the previous month), whose sagacity was respected by Hideyoshi as well.

³Aoki Kii-no-kami [青木紀伊守]*.

    This refers to the daimyō-nobleman Aoki Kazunori [青木一矩; ? ~ 1600], who was also known as Aoki Hidemasa [青木秀政].  He served as both the Governor of Kii Province (Kii-no-kami [紀伊守]), and as an Imperial Chamberlain (jijū [侍従]).  He held the junior grade of the Fifth Rank.

    Aoki Kazunori was also a disciple of Rikyū, and the owner of a number of meibutsu utensils.  The striped cloth known as Aoki kantō [青木カントウ], shown above, is named after him. __________ *In the Hisada-bon, his name is entered as Aoki Kii-no-kami dono [青木紀伊守殿] -- including the suffix appropriate to his rank (which is missing in the other manuscripts).

⁴Maeno Izumo-no-kami dono  [前野出雲守殿].

   This was Maeno Kagesada [前野景定; ? ~ 1595], a military commander (bushō [武将]) and senior vassal of the Toyotomi family.  He was the Governor of Izumo (Izumo no kami [出雲守]), as Rikyū mentions here; and he also served as the chief advisor (karō [家老]) to Toyotomi Hidetsugu [豊臣秀次; 1568 ~ 1595] -- and shared in his lord's unfortunate fate (being ordered to commit seppuku about one month after Hidetsugu).

⁵Yojō-han [四疊半].

⁶Hairyō kama  [拜領釜].

    As on previous occasions, this kama was suspended over the ro on Rikyū’s abura-dake jizai [油竹自在] -- a jizai made of the oil-stained bamboo taken from an old farmhouse kitchen (when the roof was restored) -- using Rikyū’s bronze kan and tsuru (shown above).

⁷Shigaraki mizusashi  [しがらき水指].

⁸Chaire ・ ko-natsume  [茶入・小ナツメ].

    The natsume would have been tied in a shifuku at the beginning of the temae.

⁹Kuro-chawan  [くろ茶碗].

    Though* the bowl is not described further by Rikyū, this most likely was the same deep kuro-chawan that Rikyū had received from Chōjirō at the very end of the previous year† -- in other words, the chawan now usually known as Seitaka-kuro [背高黒] (or, sometimes, Seitaka-zutsu [背高筒]).

___________ *Perhaps the better word would have been “because” -- Rikyū seems inclined to leave out such details when he has been using the same utensil again and again over the course of a number of successive chakai.

†In most of the previous records of chakai where he used this chawan, Rikyū actually wrote “kuro-chawan” [くろ茶碗; or, in one case, 黒茶碗 -- using the kanji for kuro, “black”].  The adjective “seitaka” [せいたか] was added interlineally, apparently as an afterthought (or possibly later, perhaps even by the person who was making a copy of the kaiki -- in order to clarify the matter based on what may have been an oral tradition that derived from the words of one of the guests who had been present at one of the gatherings).

    Since the original Rikyū manuscript has long been lost (and possibly the first of the copies on which the others were based as well), there seems to be no way to resolve this question.

¹⁰Ori-tame  [をりため].

    As usual, a chashaku with a noticeable bend in the middle of the handle (at the node), so that the shaft would contact the rounded lid of the natsume in two places, thus keeping it from spinning when released by the host’s hand.

¹¹Take-no-wa  [竹のわ].

    And though not mentioned, Rikyū probably used a mentsū [面桶] as his mizu-koboshi.

¹²Hashi-date  [はしだて].

    This was Rikyū's best cha-tsubo which, as has been mentioned before, was lost during the lifetime of Sen no Sōtan -- who documents this fact in one of his surviving letters.

¹³Kamaboko  [かまぼこ].

    Steamed fish-paste, which was usually deep fried in oil shortly before being served in Rikyū's period.

¹⁴Kō-no-mono  [かうのもの].

    Home-made pickled vegetables -- the cut pieces were put into a brine solution for two or three days, and then drained and served.

¹⁵Konowata  [このわた].

    This dish consists of the salted gonads (and their contents) of the sea cucumber.  It was a popular side-dish to accompany the drinking of sake [酒].

¹⁶Miso-yaki jiru  [みそ燒汁].

    This is a kind of miso-shiru containing julienned daikon and one large piece* of grilled momen-tōfu that is placed in the center of the bowl (with the scorched side facing upward). __________ *Usually an eighth of a cake.  The entire cake of tōfu is usually grilled on the top and bottom -- often by the tōfu shop.  The cake was then divided into an upper half and a lower half, and each half was then cut into quarters.  One of the pieces was placed in each bowl of miso-shiru.

¹⁷Meshi  [めし].

    Steamed rice.

¹⁸Koi no sashimi  [鯉のさしみ].

    As before, this is the dish now known as koi-arai [鯉洗い].

    In Rikyū's day most people only ate in the morning, and again at dusk.  Perhaps the guests indicated that they were still a little hungry, however, and Rikyū decided to serve them sashimi of carp (which can be prepared in a fairly short time -- live carp generally being kept in a pond in the kitchen garden).

¹⁹Fu-no-yaki  [ふのやき].

    Rikyū's small wheat crepes filled with sweet white miso or miso-an.

²⁰Kuri  [くり].

    Probably yaki-guri [焼栗], chestnuts roasted in a shallow pan by agitating them over a charcoal fire with hot pebbles (and possibly several small pieces of imported Chinese brick-sugar, which would melt and coat both the pebbles and the nuts, which gives the chestnuts a slightly sweet, molasses-like flavor).

[wakayama-acchikocchi]

Istana Wakayama (Wakayamashi)

Istana Wakayama, merupakan istana dari saudara Toyotomi Hideyoshi, yaitu Toyotomi Hidenaga. Saat pendudukan Edo, istana ini direnovasi oleh Tokugawa Yorinobu.

Di dalamnya terdapat benda-benda bersejarah seperti baju perang zaman dahulu, maket istana Wakayama, alat-alat makan, dan sebagainya.

Pemandangan dari lantai teratas istana Wakayama juga sangat bagus. Bisa terlihat sampai Sungai Kinokawa.

Istana Wakayama kebetulan sangat dekat dengan apartment tempatku tinggal selama setahun di Wakayama. Halaman istana sering kali digunakan untuk event-event bulanan. Misalnya festival musim panas, yosakoi, hanami, dan lain-lain. Saat itu hallaman istana sering diisi oleh tenda-tenda makanan seperti okonomiyaki, yakisoba, tamago senbei, daigaku imo, dan lain-lain.

Ah, indahnya Hanami.

Di Istana Wakayama juga terdapat kebun binatang kecil. Ada beberapa jenis burung, domba, unggas, dan lain-lain.

Alamat :  3 Ichibancho, Wakayama, Prefektur Wakayama 640-8146, Jepang

Tel :  +81 73-435-1044

Web : wakayamajo.jp

Jam Operasional : Setiap hari pukul 09.00-17.30

[odaclan]

I happened to see in the news some new cast announced for Dousuru Ieyasu.

Satou Ryuuta as Hideyoshi's brother Hidenaga (top left), Oonishi Riku as Ran(maru) (top right), Tokushige Satoshi as Ikeda Tsuneoki (lower left), and Hamano Kenta as Nobunaga's son Nobukatsu (lower right)

To adhere with historical records, the article said Ranmaru will go by just "Mori Ran", and not "Ranmaru". Not only did the Shinchoukouki records this, but he apparently wrote his own letter signatures in that way. However, for the costuming, the style they went with is "old school". The curling hair tie and heavy kataginu is a typical look of the more kabuki-inspired look from black and white Shouwa era movies.

I'd thought it was curious that Ikeda was wearing that Buddhist monk's "drape" (kesa 袈裟), but it's actually how he was drawn in his portrait.

Nobukatsu's casting and styling is also interesting. His appearance is somewhat reminiscent of Sometani's Nobunaga from Kirin ga Kuru, and it looks almost like they made him wear an outfit that resembles the classic Kanou Soushuu Nobunaga portrait. Maybe it's meant to emphasise a sort of "Nobukatsu tries to follow his father's footsteps" plotline during Komaki-Nagakute. He was known to be using a Tenka Fubu-esque seal in that time period, after all (see this post).

[daeva-agas]

I tried to find if there's any Toyotomi descendants at all. Not from Hideyoshi, but from his siblings.

Well... Hidenaga's descendants is a bit fuzzy too, and there's girls that ended up lost in the genealogy. But apparently his sister's family was of nobility and was totally fine, and somewhere down the line produced a consort for the emperor and she is the mother of Emperor Hirohito.

Also there are people who wanted to believe Hideyori's son was smuggled into someone else's family. If true, he lived a decent life. He just went down in history under a different identity. Which... as fanciful it may sound, it CAN happen. The Katakura apparently hid one of Yukimura's sons and made up bullshit and lies to the shogunate about his identity (something something about him being from Nobuyuki's side of the Sanada I guess). This Sanada boy eventually was restored his identity, I think, once scrutiny died down. If this was true about Hideyori's son, he probably could never come out of hiding. They say his true name was written in his grave, so that his real identity will be remembered.

Hnnng I mean, ugh, technically it doesn't matter if you're from "Hideyori is someone else's kid" camp. The siblings' descendants are the only ones who count. But I always feel super bad about believing the "X didn't really die" conspiracies.

[samurailoveballadhistory]

This... actually has a bit of history/context to unpack. 

Legend says that it was invented because Hideyoshi wanted a unique sweet for his tea ceremony. His brother Hidenaga finds a sweets maker called Jihei, who presented this kinako-dusted mochi. Hideyoshi was delighted. Seeing the pinched ends of the mochi made it resemble a little bird, he named the new sweet “uguisu mochi”. 

Despite commonly depicted as bright green in illustrations, the uguisu is actually mainly BROWN, with only a very subtle pale green-ish sheen under certain light. However, it is not at all bright green. The one that is green is actually a different bird called the “Mejiro”.

梅に鶯 Ume ni uguisu (bush warbler on plum blossoms/branch) is a common imagery used in various Japanese art on the subject of Spring. See a stock image depicting the “uguisu” as green below:

This error is considered to be a modern one, because there were many stores, who boasts a long history going all the way back from Sengoku era, that claims to still produce the “original” uguisu-mochi. Their uguisu-mochi are brown, not green, suggesting that in the past “uguisu” was understood to be brown. 

Pictured below are uguisu mochi from Kikuya, who claims they were descended from THE very shop owned by Jihei:

How did the confusion happen? An independent researcher argued that the confusion happens in the Meiji period. The cause of it, they said, was possibly caused by ukiyo-e paintings depicting both uguisu and mejiro in the same colour. Modern viewers, who likely has never seen a real uguisu or mejiro, then perhaps confused the two birds. Especially because the uguisu is very shy in the wild, and the brightly-plumed mejiro is more likely to be seen. 

Ukiyo-e by Kitagawa Utamaro. Left: Mejiro. Right: Uguisu.

Another reason they presented was surprisingly a snack called “Uguisu mame”, which is beans cooked in sugar. The person says that it was named such because in the old times, the beans ended up in a brownish colour, just like an uguisu. 

But as modernization continued, producers of the snack began to add colouring to the beans, to emulate the bright green of fresh beans. Perhaps because of the name, modern people came to associate the bright green colour with the bird uguisu.

[jibuyo]

Awhile ago you had a mini rant on how you understand why people hate fictional portrayals of their favourite historical figures, your issue being Todo Takatora. What issue do you take with his fictional portrayal?

I wanted to link you the post where I already talked about it, but then I got lazy while trying to find it. I should invent a useful tagging system... Sorry to everyone who has to read this again.

Anyway, my problem is only with Todo Takatora in Samurai Warriors 4 and mainly with his role in Unification story.

he is stripped of his entire life under Hashiba/Toyotomi (like 20+ years of life). Hashiba Hidenaga makes an important part of Takatora’s life, so him not serving Hidenaga is weird. Him not being a Toyotomi vassal is weird.

it doesn’t feel like he belongs in with Tokugawa either, I don’t think there was much on the Takatora and Ieyasu front either (but I don’t remember anymore, SW4 is a game I don’t replay (but one of the reason is the huge lag in the English localization, SW4 is the only game I don’t have in Japanese))

his character in SW4 is reduced to “Yoshitsugu, Yoshitsugu”. Takatora (in game) has this saying that “he is going to be the one who will choose the lord to serve”, so... why doesn’t he allow the same to Yoshitsugu and tries to put his own opinion on him?

there’s not much on the loyalty front either (i.e. Takatora is supposed to be someone who even though he served 7 lords, was loyal to all of them while he served them. He was just pragmatic. If the lord wasn’t what a lord should be, then he would leave.) - i.e. I want more Takatora + lords than anything else

he feels more like an original character than Todo Takatora, because the main point is him climbing from zero to a powerful daimyo under the Tokugawa shogunate imo

All of that that was missing from 4 is however present in following games, they even went back to Takatora and Kiyomasa’s weird relationship that was present in Takatora’s debut game. Hidenaga exists and is a part of Takatora’s life. They touch on other lords too in SW4-2. (Right, anime Takatora was also good.)

(I know there are people who don’t like Takatora after SW4, because they enjoyed his story in SW4 and that was reduced in following games. But I’m the opposite. I’m grateful Koei listened to fans and went back to Takatora + lords and loyalty they introduced in his debut game.)

[skyhopedango]

"What you did wasn't wrong... and it wasn't right, either. Sakichi, I'm going to ask only once. Do you want to live... or die? What is your choice?" "I want... to live." "Never forget that."

And this is how Mitsunari became a lifelong fan of Hideyoshi. Damn, this was heavy. Hidenaga's little monologue afterwards almost made me forgive his stupid OTT brocon shtick.

Anyway, I continue to love this story’s take on Hideyoshi. I like how it doesn’t really treat him as a “bad guy” - sure, he’s ruthless and manipulative, and has Hidenaga as his evil spirit whispering in his ear trying to steer him in a classic bad guy direction. And he does classic bad guy things at times. But he's not evil, he's not misunderstood, he's not misguided. Whenever he drops his "oh I'm just a humble servant of my lord" mask he's charismatic as fuck without even trying. At no point are we allowed to forget that this is the eventual Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a person who is going to accomplish something great, and would try his hand at even greater things. (And then fail at them, and rightly so.)

At this stage Hideyoshi is not motivated by petty revenge anymore, and I love how it was Saburou/Nobunaga who gave him both his original motivation and his eventual lofty ambition. The other Oda vassals can wax poetic about how they’re in love with Nobunaga and how he gave their life meaning and purpose (oh, Mitsuhide! ♥ ), but what Hideyoshi got out of his association with Nobunaga is something on a far greater scale. In this sense he's probably more of a foil to Saburou than Micchi... Character development in NobuCon is quite subtle, but I think that so far Hideyoshi’s arc is the best.  

(Shiiiit I so want a season two! Or at least a drama CD! I'd love to hear Nakamura play Hideyoshi again, it was one of his finest roles, and he'd absolutely kill these scenes...)

But I could've done without having to see poor Hanbee’s corpse with Hidenaga joking about it. :( Hidenaga, you fucking creep. (Why do I like you so much?!)

Also, Hanbee wasn't stupid and left the actual message with whatshisface, after all! Addressed to Yuki, who I guess is supposed to take it to Micchi.

And whee, Saburou! It's been so long! :D

[theworldaswedontknowit]

Hideyoushi's Conquest of Japan

Sorry this is late, but I got it out right? Imjin Wars next, grisly. That's a reconstruction of Odawara, the original was pulled down by the Meiji Government in the 1870s

Hideyoushi’s conquest of Japan took place from 1585 – 1590, beginning with his invasion of Shikoku and ending with his victorious siege against the Hojo of Odawara. It’s impressive considering that he did in five years, even with the army sizes that he could boast and the fact that he had a strong power basin already built for him by Oda. Hideyoushi had a way of doing things though and it won people over in ways that Oda couldn’t.

You could consider that actually, Hideyoushi’s alliance with the Mouri was his first act in consolidating his power. While it was so that he could rush back to Kyoto and destroy the rebelling Akechi, it was still a good move. This is because the Mouri were huge and had spent much of the time Oda had building up his own power doing the exact same thing in the South/West. Mouri Motonari – perhaps the most famous Mouri of all – is considered an excellent strategist for a reason.

Considering that Hideyoushi had trouble defeating the Mouri in the first place it was a good move to get them on his side as it opened up the opportunities to advance on the largely independent islands of Shikoku and Kyushu  – which he would do in 1585 and 1587 respectively. The Mouri gave Hideyoushi considerable strength in numbers.

He was also relying on the most Northern families, such as the Date and the Uesugi occupying themselves – which they were doing as the Date strived to claim what would become their own territory. The Uesugi were a little more difficult, they hadn’t been destroyed like their rivals Takeda and Hideyoushi strived to keep good relations with them so they didn’t attack him.

With the successful campaigns against the Shibata’s forces and the Tokugawa, Hideyoushi was free to start looking at the rest of the plan. His first attack would be on the South, they were weaker in numbers in comparison to likes of the Hojo and I doubt Hideyoushi had any wishes to make the Tokugawa and Uesugi suspicious of his movements. So, he went for Shikoku first.

He also had an excuse to attack the lord of the Island, Chosokabe Motochika, as he had technically been on Shibata’s side and had defeated a Daimyo on Hideyoushi’s during the affair. At first Hideyoushi simply demanded Awa and Iyo, Chosokabe challenging him by saying he would only hand over Awa. Hideyoushi, suitably irritated, invaded the Island with a total of 90,000 soldiers.

Chosokabe’s surrender would come only a month later and this was where Hideyoushi made himself a touch more popular than his predecessor. Instead of having Chosokabe either killed or forcing him to commit suicide he was spared. Granted, Hideyoushi took not just Awa and Iyo but also Sanuki. However, he did leave Chosokabe with Tosa – the final province on the island. One down, two to go.

However, this time he didn’t have a reason to just descend on Kyushu. That would change, however, when a plea was sent to him by Otomo Sorin. For the last decade or so the Shimazu had advanced through Kyushu, claiming land for themselves while Oda and Hideyoushi were more preoccupied with their own holdings. This plea was Hideyoushi’s excuse, though it would be an entire year before any troops were actually sent.

When they did finally send troops, led by Chosokabe Motochika and Sengoku Hisahide, the campaign was something of a disaster to begin with. While they were told to stand on the defensive by Hideyoushi, Otomo and Sengoku advanced on a fort and tried to relive a fort that was being besieged by the Shimazu at the time. Chosokabe would also protest against the move and sadly, he would suffer from its consequences. His son, the 22 year old Nobuchika, would lose his life trying to fight the Shimazu off. I think it’s easy to believe that Motochika might have been a touch bitter, Nobuchika was also his eldest son.

Eventually, Hideyoushi would start sending reinforcements. Firstly, Hashiba Hidenaga (Hideyoushi’s half-brother) would arrive with 60,000 men, along with the Mouri/Kobayakawa Takakage with 90,000. Just a note about him, Takakage was a Mouri man by birth, the third son of Motonari, he had been adopted by the Kobayakawa. Putting this at a total of 150,000 on top of the 30,000 that Hideoyushi would bring the following month the Toyotomi would cruise along the east coast, chasing the Shimazu back to their home territory of Satsuma.

Hideyoushi would camp on the hills above the castle town and wait them out. He was relying on their nerves, hoping that such a large force would scare them into submission. Which it did, the Shimazu would only cross swords with the Toyotomi once. Not long after, the head of the clan – Shimazu Yoshihisa – would arrive at Toyotomi’s camp, his head shaven and surrendered to the Toyotomi. Two down, one to go.

In 1590, three years later, Hideyoushi would stage the final national level battle in Japan for at least a decade, the next being the decisive Sekigahara two years after Hideyoushi had died. There were two parts to defeating the Hojo. There was the siege of Odawara, their main castle and the one lived in by the Hojo family. The other was the Siege of Oshi castle, defended by the Narita family.

The actual siege of the Odawara was uneventful and lots of it actually depended on logistics. The Hojo had hoped that Hideyoushi’s inadequate supplies might force him to call of the siege before he managed to starve the Hojo out. HIdeyoushi’s excuse for the siege actually lay with the Sanada clan this time, who were still a rather minor clan who were former retainers of the Takeda. They and the Hojo had been disputing about Numata castle for many years, Hideyoushi – basically being in charge of the country – intervened and gave most of the land to the Hojo but allowed the castle and the surrounding district to remain formally under the Sanada. However, that same year, the Hojo would storm the castle and kill the lord stationed there. Thus, Hideyoushi had his siege and some very angry Sanadas on his side.

The other side, Oshi castle, was headed by Ishida Mitsunari under Hideyoushi’s instruction. His commanding of this siege I think gives some weight as to just how important Mitsunari was to Hideyoushi. It was also a fatal error that led to Mitsunari being slandered, certainly in the Edo period if not at the time as well. A flood attack would be conducted on the castle, certainly of an impressive scale, but it would ultimately fail. It’s because of this that Mitsunari is seen as a poor commander, his attack failing and the Narita family only giving in when the Hojo collapsed. While I believe that it could have been executed better by Mitsunari, he certainly can’t be blamed for all of it. He was ultimately acting under Hideyoushi’s orders and was actually against the attack. I suggest, if you want a clearer (and possibly more correct telling) go ask @jibuyo as they're who bought this to light for me, previously I'd thought it was Mitsunari's doing.

It took three months before the Hojo would be starved out and Hideyoushi changed his tune a little bit. His tactic of allowing the defeated to live in exchange for their lands wasn’t implemented. This time, Hojo Ujimasa would commit suicide along with other members of the Hojo clan. This disintegrated any influence they might have had, along with this their lands were given to Ieyasu in return for the ones he currently held.  

So, Hideyoushi had Japan. The sheer force that he now boasted was enough to make the Northern clans such as the Date submit without much trouble. In fact, Hideyoushi had ordered that Masamune participate in the Siege of Odawara – which he did do…but only once he’d made sure he knew who was going to win. The aftermath of the Siege of Odawara was an important move politically, while it might have failed after his death, it certainly kept things peaceful for Hideyoushi while he was alive.

He had moved Tokugawa.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, without a doubt, was the most powerful man militarily when separated from Hideyoushi.  He was also well liked, which could have been an issue. While removing him to Kanto gave Ieyasu a degree of autonomy due to its remoteness from the capital it also took him, far, far away from Hideyoushi and his more loyal men in Kyoto. Perhaps, if Ieyasu had remained closer he would have done to Hideyoushi what Mitsuhide had done to Nobunaga. Something tells me that Hideyoushi didn’t like that idea. Now that Tokugawa was no longer much use in pacifying the lords around him – since there were, no lords left to pacify – it seems only sensible that Hideyoushi would shoo him off to somewhere he could see his army approaching from while still having time to ready his own.

[tourandanshi]

Maeda Toushirou

前田藤四郎

前田藤四郎と申します。藤四郎の眷属の末席に座するものです。 大きな武勲はありませんが、末永くお仕えします

My name is Maeda Toushirou. I am the one with the least accomplishments in the Toushirou family. Although I don’t have any outstanding achievements, I will serve you for eternity.

前田藤四郎と申します。末永くお仕えします

My name is Maeda Toushirou. May I serve you for eternity.

Maeda was forged in 1259 CE by Awataguchi Yoshimitsu (粟田口吉光) with a 24.5cm long blade and an inscription which reads 吉光 (Yoshimitsu).

The Awataguchi school is famous for its big production of tantous which include: Hirano Toushirou, Honebami Toushirou, Atsushi Toushirou, Akita Toushirou, Gokotai, Hakata Toushirou, Gotou Toushiro, Midare Toushirou, Shinano Toushirou, Yagen Toushirou; and a few other famous sword like Ichigo Hitofuri, Nakigitsune and Namazuo Toushirou.

His name comes from the Maeda clan of the Kaga Domain. His original owner was Maeda Toshiie’s second son, Maeda Toshimasa( a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period. Also known as Toshiharu (利治),  He supported Ishida Mitsunari and plotted to assassinate Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Mitsunari’s defeat, Toshimasa was forced to retire and hand his lands over to his elder brother Toshinaga. He afterwards went to Kyoto and took the tonsure). Toshimasa left the house for the Battle of Sekigahara*, and it is said that his son brought the blade back to the Maeda clan later.

Maeda Toushirou shares a similar character design to Hirano Toushirou because they both served under the Maeda Clan. Maeda Toushirou was wielded by Maeda Toshimasa (前田利政) and Hirano was wielded by Maeda Toshinaga (前田利長).

Like Hirano Toushirou, he has mostly been used as a bodyguard in women’s bedrooms and is very considerate as a result. He believes that the life of his owner is a higher priority than the outcome of a battle.

He is now one of the Important Cultural Properties of Japan and is kept at the Maeda Ikutokukai (前田育徳会, a public interest corporation for the management and preservation of the cultural heritage of the Maeda clan ).

He is not currently on display but his last exhibition was held at Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art (Kanazawa) on May 19 - July 18, 2016.

He is very loyal if his quote “May i serve you for eternity” isn’t enough as a proof, but also very humble as we can hear in his quotes: ” If you’re going to rest, should I prepare the bed for you? ” , “ Master, I have something that I would humbly like to ask of you. “ , “ Please allow me to defend you. “ , “ I will gratefully accept it. “

He also has a line removed  as of Feb. 18, 2015 saying: “I’m sorry… for worrying you. “

He is often pictured with Oodenta Mitsuyo because they share a recollection since Oodenta was in the Maeda clan too.

After obtaiining his kiwame form some quotes changes, this is the new introduction:

“大した活躍はこれからやります。 前田の、加賀の、いえ、人間を守るために戦う所存。 藤四郎が一振り、前田藤四郎と申します！

Great achievements are just gonna begin! I’m Maeda of Kaga, no, the one who is willing to fight in order to protect humanity. One of the Toushirou’s, my name is Maeda Toushirou!”                        

“新たな姿、お気に召していただけますでしょうか

Does my new form suit your taste?”

*The Battle of Sekigahara was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Tokugawa Ieyasu took three more years to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyōs, but Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa bakufu, the last shogunate to control Japan. Japan had a long period of peace after the battle.

Oda Nobunaga had slowly consolidated control over much of Japan and was in control of the shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Ashikaga tried to escape this predicament in 1573 by attacking Oda, but failed and was exiled, thus ending his shogunate. Nobunaga ruled unopposed until he was betrayed by his own retainer Akechi Mitsuhide in 1582.

While under attack in Kyoto, Nobunaga committed suicide by seppuku.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi quickly avenged his master Nobunaga and consolidated control over Japan. The death of Hideyoshi created a power vacuum in Japan, which ultimately was resolved by the outcome at Sekigahara.

Even though Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan and consolidated his power following the Siege of Odawara in 1590, his failures in his invasions of Korea significantly weakened the Toyotomi clan’s power.

Hideyoshi’s and his brother Hidenaga’s presence kept the two main factions of the time, which rallied behind Ishida Mitsunari and Tokugawa Ieyasu respectively, from anything more than quarreling, but when both of them died, the conflicts were exacerbated and developed into open hostilities.

With no appointed shogun over the armies, this left a power vacuum in the Japanese government.

Most notably, Katō Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori were publicly critical of the bureaucrats, especially Ishida Mitsunari and Konishi Yukinaga. Tokugawa Ieyasu took advantage of this situation, and recruited them, redirecting the animosity to weaken the Toyotomi clan.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was unrivaled in terms of seniority, rank, reputation and overall influence within the Regency of the Toyotomi clan after the death of Regent Maeda Toshiie. Rumors started to spread stating that Ieyasu, at that point the only surviving ally of Oda Nobunaga, would take over Hideyoshi’s legacy just as Nobunaga’s was taken.

Later, a supposed conspiracy to assassinate Ieyasu surfaced, and many Toyotomi loyalists, including Toshiie’s son, Toshinaga, were accused of taking part and forced to submit to Ieyasu’s authority.

After the victory Tokugawa Ieyasu redistributed the lands and fiefs of the participants, generally rewarding those who assisted him and displacing, punishing, or exiling those who fought against him. In doing so, he gained control of many former Toyotomi territories.

Tantō - 🌸 Low Rarity - #39