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“I wonder… if it was good for me to be born…”
This quote is from Ace in “One Piece.”
Just 8 years.
That’s how long it took Toyotomi Hideyoshi to achieve national unification.
In 1582, with the death of Oda Nobunaga in the Incident at Honnōji, the Oda Empire fell apart.
At that time, Hideyoshi was fighting against the Mori clan in the Chūgoku region.
However, upon learning of Nobunaga’s death, he immediately concealed it and made peace with the Mori clan, swiftly turning his attention to Kyoto, where his lord’s enemy, Akechi Mitsuhide, was located.
This was known as the “Chūgoku O-Gaeshi” (Counter in Chūgoku).
Hideyoshi defeated Mitsuhide just 11 days after Nobunaga’s death, successfully demonstrating to all of Japan that he could potentially succeed Nobunaga.
The ones who couldn’t accept this were Nobunaga’s retainers who had supported the Oda clan even before Hideyoshi’s rise.
However, many retainers chose to support Hideyoshi for their own survival, and only Shibata Katsuie chose to oppose him.
Katsuie’s legal wife was Nobunaga’s younger sister, Oichi.
I feel that Oichi’s life, or rather, her blood, embodies the Sengoku period itself.
Oichi, also known as one of the most beautiful women of the Sengoku period, was born at Nagoya Castle.
Through a political marriage arranged by Nobunaga, she was married to Asai Nagamasa, and they were considered a loving couple.
Between them, they had three daughters: Chacha, Hatsuhime, and Go.
Although they enjoyed happy times as a family, the era did not allow Oichi to continue her happy life.
Nagamasa betrayed Nobunaga and formed an alliance with the Asakura clan.
The war dragged on for a long time, but Nagamasa was defeated in the Battle of Anegawa and committed suicide.
Oichi wished to die with Nagamasa, but he refused her and she tearfully fled the castle with her three daughters.
After Nobunaga’s death, Oichi once again entered into a political marriage, this time with Katsuie.
“Fukui Castle” was Katsuie’s residence, known as “Kitanoa Castle” during the Sengoku period.
After Nobunaga’s death, Katsuie clashed with Hideyoshi.
Katsuie’s residence, Kitanoa Castle, was besieged by Hideyoshi.
The main tower went up in flames, and Katsuie committed suicide.
This time, Oichi also chose to die with her lord, after letting her children escape.
In the town below Fukui Castle, it was considered taboo to leave the house at night on April 24th (according to the old lunar calendar).
April 24th is the day Katsuie and Oichi died together, and Kitanoa Castle fell.
It was said that on the night of April 24th, a procession of headless warriors, representing Katsuie and his followers, would march from the “Kujūkibashi” bridge over the Abukuma River toward Kitanoa Castle.
Anyone who saw this procession was said to meet with mysterious death.
Therefore, the people of Fukui town regarded April 24th as “Shibata Memorial Day” and refrained from going out at night.
Oichi’s life, which was tossed about by the Sengoku period, came to an end in the Battle of Shizugatake, but her DNA continued to influence the Sengoku period even after her death.
Hideyoshi, who defeated Mitsuhide and Katsuie and achieved national unification, was unable to obtain one thing: children.
Hideyoshi, despite decades of marriage, had no children.
It was Oichi’s daughter, Chacha, who finally bore a child for Hideyoshi.
Whether Chacha’s bearing of a son, who would become Toyotomi Hideyori, was an act of revenge for her mother’s enemy is unclear, but here too lies another story of the Sengoku period.
Although Hideyoshi passed away and the era transitioned to Tokugawa Ieyasu’s, there were still some who believed that once Hideyori reached adulthood, the world would belong to the Toyotomi clan.
The only concern Ieyasu, who had seemingly achieved national unification through the Battle of Sekigahara, had was Hideyori’s existence.
Thus, the amiable Ieyasu became known as “Tanuki Oyaji” (Old Tanuki).
Using a pretext, Ieyasu attacked the Toyotomi clan, leading to the Siege of Osaka.
The one who held more decisive power than the young Hideyori during the Siege of Osaka was Chacha (Yodo-dono).
After the Toyotomi clan was defeated in the Siege of Osaka, Hideyori, Chacha, and their followers committed suicide in the burning Osaka Castle.
And so, the era of the Sengoku period came to an end.
Looking back at the Sengoku period in this way, we can glimpse that at its center was Oichi and her bloodline.
The story of those who bore the “blood of demons.”
When we perceive the Sengoku period in this light, we can understand a different narrative.