Nobunaga 002: The Fated Encounter with Takechiyo
Last time we mentioned that Oda Nobuhide was facing two enemies: Saitou in the north, and Imagawa/Matsudaira in the south.
Alliance in Sengoku time was never free. Some come with exorbitant costs. Hirotada decided to become a subject of Imagawa Yoshimoto(今川義元). To show his loyalty, he was required to send his 6 year old son, Takechiyo(竹千代), to Imagawa as a hostage.
As if this wasn't bad enough, there was a little "accident" when Takechiyo was taken from his home Mikawa to Suruga(Imagawa's territory).
Takechiyo's step-mother's father(do we call that step-grandpa?), Toda Yasumitsu(戸田康光) received order from Imagawa Yoshimoto to escort Takechiyo to Suruga. But for some reason, he instead delivered the boy to Owari.
As it turned out, Oda Nobuhide bribed Yasumitsu to hand over the boy to him so that he could use him for political purposes. And with that, Takechiyo was delivered to Owari.
Takechiyo was now a hostage of the Oda.
The young Nobunaga took an interest in the frightened little boy.
(Because I am sort of a stickler for the whole "fact vs fiction" thing, I always try to distinguish historical facts from fictional dialogues/events. But sometimes the dialogues are just so much more interesting. From now on, I will provide some of the secondary constructions of these historical bits as optional material, in blue texts. I think they are valid reconstructions of event details and can really help portraying the characters. However, if it's not your thing, feel free to skip. I take these material from the dialogue reconstructions of various games/books/movies.)
Nobunaga: Hey you. What's your name?
Takechiyo: The eldest son of Matsudaira, Takechiyo.
Nobunaga: I'm Oda Nobunaga
Takechiyo: Ooh, the eldest son of Oda, Nobunaga-sama...
Nobunaga: What the fuck? Who cares about that stuff? Just Oda Nobunaga.
Takechiyo: O... okay...
Nobunaga: Man, what a boring guy. (Then again being a hostage is tough on a little boy like him. Let me ask in a different way).
Nobunaga: Hey. Are you scared of me?
Takechiyo: I don't think I need to be.
Nobunaga: Oh yeah? Why not?
Takechiyo: I still have value to Lord Nobuhide. It's not like I'd be killed until I stop being useful.
Nobunaga: *Pulls out sword* Oh really? What makes you think I won't kill you right here right now??
Takechiyo: If you do, then I have nothing to say.
Nobunaga: Are you not afraid of death?
Takechiyo: I am. Very afraid. But it's not like I can really find a way to escape.
Nobunaga: HAHAHAHAHA. *Sheathes sword* You're an interesting one! I knew you'd be entertaining, and you didn't disappoint me.
Takechiyo: ... Thank you, Nobunaga-sama.
Nobunaga: Stop calling me that. I'm 13, you're 6. I'm Kippoushi, you are Takechiyo, and we are going to address to each other as such. I'm older so I'll treat you like a brother.
Takechiyo: ... Thank you, Kippoushi-onii-chan.
(Source: Video Game Yumemaboroshi no Gotoku)
Nobunaga often visited Takechiyo in his spare time. They became close friends. It was unclear why Nobunaga took a liking to him. Maybe it's because Nobunaga had to deal with too much opposition against him becoming the successor, too much criticism of his weird ways, or too much discrimination from his own family members. Takechiyo came with a blank slate. Perhaps he was the only person who didn't judge Nobunaga. Who knows.
Takechiyo likely needed Nobunaga just as much as Nobunaga needed him, if not more. We can't even begin to imagine how terrifying it must had been for him being a hostage in enemy territory. Being friends with the "prince" character of the enemy family(albeit a very unpopular "prince", lol) probably shielded him from a lot of the potential abuse from the Oda people.
This is a pretty important osananajimi flag that will be relevant later.
Anyway, you might be wondering, "You mentioned that people in the Oda faction disliked Nobunaga, but exactly who in the family is giving Nobunaga a hard time? How can they dislike him so much just because he dressed funny?"
These questions will be answered in my next article. I will be introducing specific Oda family members and retainers, one by one. Kind of like a "who's who in the Oda family". This will include some names that you might be familiar with, such as Shibata Katsuie and Sakuma Nobumori. Of course, I will do that in the context of their relationships with Nobunaga.
See you next time.
The head of the Matsudaira family, Matsudaira Hirotada(松平広忠) was having a very hard time maintaining his foothold in his homeland Mikawa.
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| Daimyous of Central Japan in 1547 |
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| Matsudaira Hirotada |
After his father was assassinated, Hirotada became the head of family at age nine. Ever since his father died, Oda had been ferociously attacking his territories. He also had a complicated relationship with Imagawa on the east. His reign continued to decline and eventually he gave up Matsudaira's independence in exchange for some safety.
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| Takechiyo |
As if this wasn't bad enough, there was a little "accident" when Takechiyo was taken from his home Mikawa to Suruga(Imagawa's territory).
Takechiyo's step-mother's father(do we call that step-grandpa?), Toda Yasumitsu(戸田康光) received order from Imagawa Yoshimoto to escort Takechiyo to Suruga. But for some reason, he instead delivered the boy to Owari.
As it turned out, Oda Nobuhide bribed Yasumitsu to hand over the boy to him so that he could use him for political purposes. And with that, Takechiyo was delivered to Owari.
 |
| Kippoushi onii-chan <3 |
The young Nobunaga took an interest in the frightened little boy.
(Because I am sort of a stickler for the whole "fact vs fiction" thing, I always try to distinguish historical facts from fictional dialogues/events. But sometimes the dialogues are just so much more interesting. From now on, I will provide some of the secondary constructions of these historical bits as optional material, in blue texts. I think they are valid reconstructions of event details and can really help portraying the characters. However, if it's not your thing, feel free to skip. I take these material from the dialogue reconstructions of various games/books/movies.)
Nobunaga: Hey you. What's your name?
Takechiyo: The eldest son of Matsudaira, Takechiyo.
Nobunaga: I'm Oda Nobunaga
Takechiyo: Ooh, the eldest son of Oda, Nobunaga-sama...
Nobunaga: What the fuck? Who cares about that stuff? Just Oda Nobunaga.
Takechiyo: O... okay...
Nobunaga: Man, what a boring guy. (Then again being a hostage is tough on a little boy like him. Let me ask in a different way).
Nobunaga: Hey. Are you scared of me?
Takechiyo: I don't think I need to be.
Nobunaga: Oh yeah? Why not?
Takechiyo: I still have value to Lord Nobuhide. It's not like I'd be killed until I stop being useful.
Nobunaga: *Pulls out sword* Oh really? What makes you think I won't kill you right here right now??
Takechiyo: If you do, then I have nothing to say.
Nobunaga: Are you not afraid of death?
Takechiyo: I am. Very afraid. But it's not like I can really find a way to escape.
Nobunaga: HAHAHAHAHA. *Sheathes sword* You're an interesting one! I knew you'd be entertaining, and you didn't disappoint me.
Takechiyo: ... Thank you, Nobunaga-sama.
Nobunaga: Stop calling me that. I'm 13, you're 6. I'm Kippoushi, you are Takechiyo, and we are going to address to each other as such. I'm older so I'll treat you like a brother.
Takechiyo: ... Thank you, Kippoushi-onii-chan.
(Source: Video Game Yumemaboroshi no Gotoku)
Nobunaga often visited Takechiyo in his spare time. They became close friends. It was unclear why Nobunaga took a liking to him. Maybe it's because Nobunaga had to deal with too much opposition against him becoming the successor, too much criticism of his weird ways, or too much discrimination from his own family members. Takechiyo came with a blank slate. Perhaps he was the only person who didn't judge Nobunaga. Who knows.
Takechiyo likely needed Nobunaga just as much as Nobunaga needed him, if not more. We can't even begin to imagine how terrifying it must had been for him being a hostage in enemy territory. Being friends with the "prince" character of the enemy family(albeit a very unpopular "prince", lol) probably shielded him from a lot of the potential abuse from the Oda people.
This is a pretty important osananajimi flag that will be relevant later.
Anyway, you might be wondering, "You mentioned that people in the Oda faction disliked Nobunaga, but exactly who in the family is giving Nobunaga a hard time? How can they dislike him so much just because he dressed funny?"
These questions will be answered in my next article. I will be introducing specific Oda family members and retainers, one by one. Kind of like a "who's who in the Oda family". This will include some names that you might be familiar with, such as Shibata Katsuie and Sakuma Nobumori. Of course, I will do that in the context of their relationships with Nobunaga.
See you next time.
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