Who Is Sakuma Nobumori (Sakuma Uemon)?
The veteran retainer later banished by Nobunaga
Sakuma Uemon-no-jo Nobumori
Sakuma Nobumori was a long-serving chief retainer of the Oda clan who had been with Nobunaga since his youth. Commonly called Uemon-no-jo, he was entrusted for many years with commanding large armies. His skill at directing withdrawals is said to have earned him the nickname "Retreat Sakuma" (Noki Sakuma).
In Episode 6, he appears during the march on Kyoto as one of the commanders attacking Mitsukuri Castle, alongside Kinoshita Tokichiro, Niwa Nagahide, and others. When the castle falls in a single day, the Rokkaku side collapses and Nobunaga's army advances on Kyoto. From Episode 7 to Episode 9, his name also appears as a veteran retainer following Nobunaga in his major battles.
Despite his years of loyal service, in 1580 Nobunaga blamed him for, among other things, his poor performance in the attack on Ishiyama Honganji, scolded him in a long letter of 19 articles, and banished him to Mount Koya. Reproduced in the Shincho Koki, this letter is a famous source showing Nobunaga's severity. Nobumori died the following year.
Episodes featuring this character4
NEWEpisode 6
Keep the Title. Give Me the Ports.Nobunaga's March on Kyoto
Backing a nobleman who has lost everything, Oda Nobunaga takes a mountain castle in a single day and fills Kyoto with long vermilion spears. Then, drawing on the stories told about him, this episode shows the man who turned down the high rank a weeping shogun offered with the word "Father," and asked only for a few towns of ports and roads.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 7
He Was Winning. Then He Ran for His LifeThe Retreat from Kanegasaki
With victory in sight, Nobunaga hears that his sister's husband has turned on him. He laughs it off, but the reports keep coming. "Right or wrong hardly matters now," he says, then leaves the win and his pride behind and races through dark mountain trails to Kyoto.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 8
He Came Back for His Sister's HusbandThe Battle of Anegawa
Betrayed by his sister's husband, Nobunaga fled home caked in mud. In under two months he marches north again, trusts his one remaining ally with half the battlefield, and wins the battle at the river. But the mountain castle does not fall, and that autumn, the banners he failed to wipe out climb another mountain.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 9
Join Me, Stay Out, or BurnThe Burning of Mount Hiei
A sacred mountain lent its slopes to the enemy, and Oda Nobunaga gives it three choices: join him, stay out of it, or burn. A year later, the mountain goes up in flames, and the cries for mercy go unanswered. Before that night, an old chronicler's brush stops.
20 pages