Shinchō Kōki Summary
The Shinchō Kōki ("The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga") is the life story of Oda Nobunaga, written by Ota Gyuichi, a samurai who served him. This manga draws on its opening volume, which records Nobunaga's early years, to show how a young man mocked as "the Great Fool" made his name across Japan's Warring States era.
Nobunaga, the young heir of Owari Province, walks through town in outlandish clothes, yet never skips his training with horses and guns. At the funeral of his father, Nobuhide, he hurls powdered incense at the altar, and his guardian, Hirate Masahide, despairs and takes his own life. His father-in-law, Saito Dosan, comes to their meeting at Shotoku-ji temple expecting to laugh at him. Instead, a procession of five hundred long spears and the sight of Nobunaga in formal dress show Dosan the true measure of the man.
After Dosan is killed by his own son, a movement within the Oda clan rallies around Nobunaga's younger brother, Kanjuro. Nobunaga defeats his brother's side at the Battle of Ino and spares him once, but when a second rebellion follows, he summons him to Kiyosu Castle and has him killed. Then, in 1560, the vast army of Imagawa Yoshimoto, recorded as 45,000 strong, invades Owari. Nobunaga dances the Atsumori at dawn, rides out of his castle with only six horsemen, and kills Yoshimoto at Okehazama.
Story summary
Episode 1He Hurled Incense at His Father's Funeral — The Great Fool of Owari
In the mangaThe whole town laughs at the young lord they call the Great Fool. But one young archer, Ota Gyuichi, sees what nobody else does: the young lord training alone at dawn. At his father's funeral, the young lord hurls incense at the altar. Then his guardian, Hirate Masahide, takes his own life. In Episode 1, what was the first thing the chronicler wrote down?
In the original mythOda Nobunaga (1534–1582) later became the most feared warlord of Japan's Warring States period. The Shinchō Kōki ("The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga") begins with his teenage years in Owari Province, near today's Nagoya. Its picture of him is a strange mix of discipline and bad manners.
Episode 2Spying on the 'Fool,' He Saw 500 Spears — The Meeting at Shotoku-ji Temple
In the mangaThe old warlord Saito Dosan plans to peek through the cracks of a shack at the edge of town and laugh at his son-in-law, the rumored "fool" of Owari. But behind the young lord march five hundred crimson spears—and at the temple waits a young man in formal dress that no one has ever seen before.
In the original mythIn the first book of the Shinchō Kōki, a chronicle of Oda Nobunaga written by his retainer Ōta Gyūichi, there is a short and famous scene. Late in the fourth month, Saito Dosan (called Yamashiro Dosan in the text), the lord of Mino Province, sends word to his young son-in-law, Oda Kazusanosuke Nobunaga of Owari. Dosan proposes that they meet at Shotoku-ji, a temple in Tonda, a wealthy temple town of around seven…
Episode 3He Forgave His Brother Once. Only Once. — The Battle of Ino
In the mangaSaito Dosan, his wife's father and the one man who believed in him, is dead, and the young lord Oda Nobunaga is suddenly alone. His polite younger brother Kanjuro, his mother's favorite, is pushed by ambitious retainers into rising against him. Nobunaga forgives him once. He doesn't forgive him a second time.
In the original mythThe episode opens with the loss of Nobunaga's most important ally. Saito Dosan, lord of the neighboring province of Mino, was the father of Nobunaga's wife. According to the Shinchō Kōki ("Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga"), Dosan fell out with his son Yoshitatsu. Yoshitatsu tricked his two younger brothers into coming to him and had them killed, which was an open break with his father.
Episode 445,000 Enemies. He Rode Out With Six. — The Battle of Okehazama
In the mangaAs forty-five thousand Imagawa troops swallow the border forts one by one, Oda Nobunaga gives his senior retainers no battle plan at all, only two words: "Go home." At dawn he dances Atsumori, wolfs down his breakfast standing up, and bursts out of the castle with just six riders.
In the original mythIn 1560, Imagawa Yoshimoto, the lord of Suruga, Tōtōmi and Mikawa, marched into Owari, the home province of Oda Nobunaga. The Shinchō Kōki, written by Nobunaga's retainer Ōta Gyūichi, says Yoshimoto led 45,000 men and made camp at Kutsukake. His forces brought supplies into Ōdaka Castle, and two Oda commanders, Sakuma Daigaku and Oda Genba, warned Kiyosu Castle that the border forts of Washizu and Marune would be…
Episode 5He Beat an Army. He Can't Beat a Hill. — Siege of Inabayama Castle
In the mangaOda Nobunaga crushed an army of 45,000, yet for years one mountain castle has him saying "Going home." He strips away the enemy's allies one by one, then moves without waiting for the hostages, so fast that even his own side is stunned.
In the original mythThe Shinchō Kōki (Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga) was written by Ōta Gyūichi, a retainer who served Oda Nobunaga and fought in some of the events he describes. Its opening book follows Nobunaga's early career in Owari, part of present-day Aichi Prefecture, and his struggle for Mino, the neighboring province to the north.