Nobunaga Quotes

Yhere is a well-known saying in Japan that if a song-bird would not sing, Nobunaga would kill it, Hideyoshi would persuade it to sing, and Ieyasu would simply wait for it to sing.

If you wish for peace, prepare for war.

Nobunaga said: "Little bird, sing. If you don't sing, I will kill you". Hideyoshi said: "Little bird, sing. If you don't sing, I will make you sing". Ieyasu said: "Little bird, sing. If you don't sing, I will wait for you to sing".

Leur apparition remonte à la fin du IXème siècle et au début du Xème siècle. Ces guerriers (bushi) s'emparent du pouvoir politique à la fin du XIIème siècle et créèrent un système monarchique particulier dirigé par un shogun qui tenait sa légitimité de la reconnaissance impériale. Ce gouvernement fut mis en place dès 1180 à Kamakura dans l'est du Japon, avant d'être transféré à Kyoto au XIVème siècke, puis à Edo (future Tokyo) au début du XVIIème siècle. Trois dynasties shogunales (toutes descandant, réellement ou fictivement, du clan Minamoto) se sont succédé entre le XIIème et le XIXème siècle. On distingue un premier bafuku (gouv. de la tente) à Kamakura (1180-1333), celui de la famille Ashikaga, qui se constitua en 1336 et qui fut installé à Kyoto dans le quartier Muromachi en 1378. Ce deuxième bafuku s'éteignit en 1573 avant qu'un nouveau régime militaire n'émergeat à Edo en 1603. Dans l'intervalle 3 seigneurs hégémons, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, et ensuite Tokugawa Ieyasu travaillèrent à réunifier le pays sous leur domination. Les samouraï ont pendant un bon millénaire joué un rôle central dans l'histoire du pays par leur rôle politique, leur poids démographique (environ 5% de la polulation au milieu du XIXème siècle).

Um grande guerreiro japonês, chamado Nobunaga, decidiu atacar o inimigo, embora tivesse apenas um décimo do número de homens de seu oponente. Ele sabia que poderia ganhar mesmo assim, mas seus soldados tinham dúvidas. No caminho para a batalha, ele parou em um templo xintoísta[1] e disse aos seus homens: — Após visitar o relicário, eu jogarei uma moeda. Se der cara, venceremos. Se der coroa, com certeza perderemos. O destino nos tem em suas mãos. Nobunaga entrou no templo e ofereceu uma prece silenciosa. Então saiu e jogou a moeda. Deu cara. Seus soldados ficaram tão entusiasmados a lutar que eles ganharam a batalha facilmente. Após a batalha, seu segundo em comando disse, orgulhoso: — Ninguém pode mudar a mão do destino! — Realmente não... — disse Nobunaga, mostrando reservadamente sua moeda, que tinha a cara impressa nos dois lados.

What if the bird will not sing? Nobunaga answers, "Kill it!" Hideyoshi answers, "Make it want to sing." Ieyasu answers, "Wait." This book, Taiko, is the story of the man who made the bird want to sing.

Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) was one of the most powerful daimyos during this warring period of Japan.

Hideyoshi had won Nobunaga’s trust as an innovative thinker and someone who could actually get things done, reliably, without any excuses or failure.

Fortunately, Ieyasu had with him Honda Tadakatsu, who intimidated the local rustics with his naginata. This weapon was named Tonbokiri or Dragonfly Cutter because legend had it that the blade was so razor sharp that one day, when a dragonfly had alighted on its edge, it had been instantly sliced in two. It was the creation of the famed swordsmith Fujiwara Masazane and would become one of the Tenka san so (天下三槍), the three legendary spears of Japan.102

Akechi was also extremely self-conscious of his growing baldness and Nobunaga exacerbated this too by taking Akechi’s head under his arm and pretending to drum on his bald pate, much to the amusement of the other Oda vassals present.

Since one person differs from another in disposition, when men are appointed to offices this should be tested, and their tendencies observed and their ability estimated, so that the office may be well filled. A saw cannot do the work of a gimlet, and a hammer cannot take the place of a knife, and men are just like this. There is a use for both sharp and blunt at the right time, and if this is not well apprehended the relation of lord and vassal will become disturbed. The Legacy of Ieyasu

Since one person differs from another in disposition, when men are appointed to offices this should be tested, and their tendencies observed and their ability estimated, so that the office may be well filled. A saw cannot do the work of a gimlet, and a hammer cannot take the place of a knife, and men are just like this. There is a use for both sharp and blunt at the right time, and if this is not well apprehended the relation of lord and vassal will become disturbed.

Nobunaga had originally wished to follow his victory at Okehazama by marching into Mikawa and attacking Motoyasu but his shrewd new rising general, Kinoshita Tokichiro, had advised him as follows: ‘When you have won a victory, tighten the strings of your helmet!’ This phrase, which subsequently became a famous Japanese proverb, meant that having won at Okehazama, Nobunaga should switch from military strength to deception and set his enemies against each other.

Fast like the wind, Silent like a forest, Intrusive like the fire, Immobile like a mountain.

Takechiyo opted to support the smaller group, adducing as his reason for doing so that a smaller group would always be better motivated than a larger one, whose members would be lulled into complacency by their superior numbers.

The Asai clan’s daimyo since 1560 was Asai Nagamasa, a sensible and level-headed chieftain with a reputation as a capable bushi.

intrepid, and he was not lacking even in moral virtues, being

Much later, Emperors reigned from the kikukamonsho, the Chrysanthemum Throne, a name which referred to the throne itself as well as the imperial chrysanthemum crest (kiku). When the later Japanese thought of their nation as a political unity at all they imagined the god-descended individual who sat upon the kikukamonsho and ruled according to divine mandate.

These obligated retainers gathered together by warlords into private armies were the samurai. The evocative term ‘samurai’ derives from the verb samurau or saburau (‘to serve’) and so means quite literally ‘those who serve’.