To Whom Can I Answer?

Where does my responsibility end and others' begin?
________________________

Portrait of Oda Nobunaga,
by Jesuit painter Giovanni Niccolo, 1583-1590.

During his father's funeral, teenager Nobunaga - now the new leader of the clan - was said to have acted outrageously, throwing the ceremonial incense at the altar.

I have no time for the dead. The looks on their stupid faces: priceless! How can one disrespect the dead? They're gone! It's the living we must honor. These contrived rituals mean nothing and strangle me like a lowly dog. Is it my fault they cannot understand, standing there aghast with gaping mouths, gossiping like tittering women? I tried, but I cannot bend my will to their silliness or self-mockery.

Now my spirit stands uncaged. For a long time this has been coming. Would not my father wish that I be free? He wants me to live, urging me on from the great beyond! To those "shocked" by my behavior, in your falseness you reveal yourself. Why such concern for rituals? Because you disregard life.

So I cement my reputation as Owari no Ōutsuke, The Fool of Owari. Hot-headed. Disdainful. Impudent. Good! Their minds are as deep as puddles and twice as murky. Were they of independent thought themselves my actions would be hailed for what they were: refreshing and freeing. But in this way I separate the wheat from the chaff: I shall see who is strong of mind and who shall be my puppets.

Hirate Masahide, the second highest ranking karo, served the Oda family faithfully, but he was also deeply troubled by Nobunaga's eccentricity.



Funny thing, this human ego. How obvious their need to feed it. "If I believe it, it must be true." I shall use that against them! Rare is the person who heeds his own drum in spite of the weight of convention. I will "concede" to the weak ones, give them happy lies, letting them attain "victory", thus keeping them in my pocket. You walk around thinking I need you when reality is just the opposite.

Yes, I did well to follow my instincts. They have yet to fail me! To those who betray their own I am "The Erratic One", incomprehensible and inexplicable. I will always be able to keep them off balance, to induce fear at any moment. Behind my back it will be said, "Our lord knows not what he does!" But through this trickery I can control my marionettes as I please - and this I must have if my ends are to be achieved as I see fit.

Will take all my wit and wiles to survive. Pretenders in my own clan wish to take my place. The Owari province is weak and small, surrounded by scheming enemies. And yet - I have the advantage! The law of the land is survival of the fittest and by all the gods I love it! Let me test myself against all who live. My true challenge is in not losing faith in myself. I'm eager to find my place in the world.

By 1551 Nobunaga was the leader of his faction of the Oda and master of Kiyosu.



The pretenders are dead. Power is consolidated into my hands, now my eyes can look outward. Conquest! Secretly I've made incursions into Mino, gathering intelligence of their internal conflicts. Too early for battle with my meager army, until such time I have only my mind to keep us alive. Mino is fractured, ripe for the taking. Will I act too soon?

I still must play the baka fool, the harmless idiot who uses his men for hunting parties and sport. Ah, how I pray the deception holds! I need time to solidify my people behind me and to keep training my men for the true purpose of my "hunting parties": battle. "Who could he ever expect to defeat with his 2,000 man army?" I hear them speak only in their minds. How can I answer? I know only I must be ready for any opportunity however foolish it seems in their eyes.

Only by deeds may one's genius be proven but one need only a few ill-timed farts to "prove" one's self a fool. My plans, my preparations, my ambitions, my dreams, my feeling of destiny, my inner vision that scans all the land, my faith my hands are guided by Something Greater than myself - these I can share with no one no matter how dear my desire. For me, to explain is to die. No man has the power to grant understanding to another but if one wishes, the truth of anyone is plain to see. Even me.

Hirate Masahide, the loyal Oda retainer, committed what was called kanshi, or remonstration through suicide. The old samurai wrote up a letter urging Nobunaga to change his ways and then slit his belly.

Hirate's grave

Masahide is dead. And though he died on a fool's errand, his loss bothers me. To what do I owe his death? The cruelty of the world harbors no mistakes and to my muse I must be true. I can breach my faith for no one - in that I did not err. But where does my responsibility end and others' begin? I hear your cry great warrior, but too late do you understand.

If I am deemed unwise, refusing true counsel and holding fast to the path of destruction, then let me reap what I sow. That's all I ask. That's all I'll ever ask. An open mind always finds the true way if one is willing to accept it. It is not the lot of every man to have vision but any can have self-honesty. Ah, dear Masahide, you should have trusted yourself more!

I dropped my guard once, telling a chosen few: "We are on the eve of greatness!" - and their hidden doubt registered like the noon sun. And yet, the simple ones shall always blame me for Masahide's death. I'll be branded "ruthless" and "sightless to suffering" by those who are exactly that. I listen to your words, dear retainers, but they are empty and without truth - and therefore godless. To only the gods can I answer.

_____________________

After building a Buddhist temple dedicated to his lost retainer, In the battle of Okehazama Oda defeated an army ten times his strength in a surprise attack and the use of deception as to his true camp's location. He went on to become the most powerful warlord in the land at the time of his death. In all of Japan, only he could have started the great drive for unification after so many divisive centuries of civil war.

Looking through a glass onion