The Man Named Shibata Katsuie—The Battle to Avenge Nobunaga Had Ended Five Days Earlier
I previously wrote about how, for some reason, I feel the death of Oda Nobunaga as if it were my own personal loss.
Actually, there is one other person who has been bothering me just as much.
It is Shibata Katsuie.
The day after the incident, he had captured the castle.
On June 2, 1582, the Honno-ji Incident occurred.
At that time, Katsuie was in the Hokuriku region. He had been attacking Uozu Castle since March and was on the verge of a breakthrough.
And then, on June 3, Uozu Castle fell.
The day after the incident.
Moreover, Katsuie captured the castle without knowing that Nobunaga had died. The news had not reached him. On the day the castle he had besieged for so long finally fell, he had lost his lord.
The battle of vengeance was fought by someone else.
What happened afterward is also painful.
The Uesugi side learned of the incident and began to move. They incited the local lords of Etchu and Noto, threatening Katsuie's rear. As the commander of the Hokuriku regional army, Katsuie could not leave his post.
It was not until June 18 that Katsuie was finally able to move toward Omi.
However, it was already over. Hashiba Hideyoshi, who had turned back from the Chugoku region, had defeated Mitsuhide at Yamazaki on June 13.
One of the men who had served Nobunaga the longest missed the battle of vengeance by about ten days.
The year after turning sixty.
From there on, things did not go well either. After the Kiyosu Conference, his position relative to Hideyoshi began to reverse. The following year, in 1583, he was defeated at Shizugatake and committed suicide alongside Lady Oichi at Kitanosho Castle.
He is said to have been 62 years old. (Since there are various theories about his birth year, his exact age is not confirmed.)
He lived this final year after passing the age of sixty.
Why this story bothers me.
Just as with Nobunaga, I have no connection to Katsuie. He is a stranger from 440 years ago.
And yet, this one point—that he "didn't make it in time"—somehow remains in my heart.
In this article, I will not provide a historical explanation. Instead, I will trace the story while asking myself, why do I want to stand on Katsuie's side? as I go along.
I should say in advance that as I traced this, I ended up breaking down my own perspective once. Saying it was because of the distance was probably a convenient excuse.
I would be happy if those of you who have also felt strangely bothered by someone's final moments would join me.
1. Conclusion: I am not sympathizing with Katsuie, but perhaps I want to borrow his argument.
First, I will share the conclusion I reached.
The reason I feel regret over Katsuie Shibata's final moments does not seem to be because I sympathize with him. I think it is because I want to borrow his argument for my own sake.
Katsuie's story has this form: I was guarding my post. That is why I could not be present at the decisive moment.
This is a very convenient form. It is because the reason for losing becomes one's placement rather than one's ability. It wasn't that I was at fault; I just wasn't there.
I think I probably like this form.
When you have been working for a long time, things come to mind. While I was in the provinces, personnel decisions were made at headquarters. While I was running the front lines, I wasn't called to the place where I would be evaluated. Even though I was doing the work right in front of me, when I noticed, someone else had already moved ahead.
At times like that, if I could say, "It was because I was guarding my post," it would make things a little easier.
I think Katsuie is someone who guarantees that way of speaking from the side of history. That is why I want to stand on his side.
Don't you have this kind of "argument you want to borrow"?
2. First, let's confirm where he was.
I will organize the facts.
In the 10th year of Tensho (1582), Katsuie was the commander of the Hokuriku regional army. From March, he had been besieging Uozu Castle and Matsukura Castle in Etchu.
At dawn on June 2nd, the Honno-ji Incident occurred in Kyoto.
On June 3rd, Uozu Castle fell. Katsuie captured this castle without knowing of Nobunaga's death.
He could not move from there. The Uesugi side learned of the incident and incited the local lords of Etchu and Noto to take action. If the commander of the Hokuriku front left his post, the lands that had just been pacified would collapse all at once.
It was June 18th when Katsuie was able to move toward Omi.
However, five days before that,on June 13th at Yamazaki, Hideyoshi Hashiba had already defeated Mitsuhide Akechi.
Hideyoshi, who had turned back from the Chugoku region, had arrived first.
3. Here, I will break down my own perspective
Well, if it ended here, it would be explained by "the distance." The Hokuriku region was far away. It was bad luck. Katsuie was not to blame—.
However, I will write this honestly.This is a story that is too clean.
Hideyoshi was also far away.
Hideyoshi was in Bitchu in the Chugoku region, around present-day Okayama Prefecture. The distance to Kyoto is not much different from that of Etchu. Even so, he returned in about 10 days and defeated Mitsuhide.
If distance were the reason, Hideyoshi should not have made it in time either.
In other words, "because it was far" is not a sufficient explanation for why Katsuie did not make it in time.The reason I want to say "it was because of the distance" is that it allows me to defend Katsuie.
I want to be careful about the fact that such convenience is mixed into my own perspective.
4. Nevertheless, his circumstances were also real
If you ask whether it was Katsuie's negligence, I think that is also different. I would like to look at this fairly.
There was a clear difference in the situations of the two men.
The Mori clan, whom Hideyoshi was facing, did not yet know about the incident. That is why he was able to make peace immediately. He was able to turn back without worrying about his rear.
The Uesugi clan, whom Katsuie was facing, knew about the incident. Furthermore, they were actively moving the local lords of Etchu and Noto. If he left his rear exposed, the Hokuriku region that had just been pacified would collapse. It wasnot a situation where he could turn back.
Another thing is the condition of snow in the Hokuriku region. It is a land where you cannot move even if you want to during the winter.
In other words,even though it was the same "far," the content was completely different.
Looking at it this far, I cannot say it was either. Katsuie was not making excuses, nor was it a case of complete force majeure.Somewhere in between, there is probably the truth.
This is always the part I find difficult when reading about history.It cannot be neatly divided. And people tend to divide and talk about things that cannot be divided.
5. The idea that he "lost at the Kiyosu Conference" also seems suspicious.
There was one more thing I had assumed.
The Kiyosu Conference. I remembered that at that meeting to decide Nobunaga's successor, Katsuie was defeated by Hideyoshi, who supported Sanboshi—this is a scene that often appears in dramas as well.
However, when I looked into it,there were suggestions that this story contains later fabrications.
The narrative that Katsuie opposed Sanboshi as successor and instead supported Nobutaka comes from the "Kawakami Taikoki," and there is a theory that in reality, there was no disagreement among Hideyoshi, Katsuie, and others regarding making Sanboshi the successor itself.
As a result of the conference, Katsuie gained three districts in Northern Omi and Nagahama Castle. On the surface, this was an increase in his holdings.
Even so,the positions of Katsuie and Hideyoshi had reversed by this point.
He wasn't talked down at the conference; he just realized his position had changed. This feels more profound. I believe there is such a thing as a defeat where there is no single moment of losing.a defeat without a moment of losing
Incidentally, Katsuie married Lady Oichi after this. It is said that Hideyoshi acted in part to suppress Katsuie's dissatisfaction with the decisions made at the Kiyosu Conference.
6. The man who sided with the enemy had become the chief senior retainer
There is one more thing that made me pause while researching.
Katsuie was originally an enemy of Nobunaga.
In the Battle of Ino in 1556, Katsuie sided with Nobunaga's younger brother, Nobukatsu, and led 1,000 men to fight against Nobunaga. He was defeated and surrendered.
It is said that he was spared because Tsuchida Gozen, the biological mother of both Nobunaga and Nobukatsu, strongly requested it. Later, when Nobukatsu plotted another rebellion, Katsuie tipped off Nobunaga.
Over the next twenty-some years, he became the commander of the Hokuriku regional army, pacified Kaga, andin 1580, he became the chief senior retainer of the Oda clan.
I remembered something here.
That chief senior retainer position became vacant because Nobumori Sakuma was exiled.
And Nobumori Sakuma was a person whosided with Nobunagain the Battle of Ino.
| | Battle of Ino (1556) | Afterward |
|---|---|---|
| Nobumori Sakuma | sided with Nobunaga | Exiled in 1580 and died in despair |
| Katsuie Shibata | sided with Nobukatsu (enemy) | Became chief senior retainer after Sakuma's downfall |
The man who sided with the enemy became the chief senior retainer, while the man who sided with the ally was exiled.
I do not think this is a story about who was right. It is just that where you stood on that day did not determine how you would be treated twenty-some years later—that is all.
When you are in an organization, there are times when you want to lean on the fact that you were on the right side at that time. But perhaps time can easily invalidate that support.
7. The Final Year After Turning Sixty
After the Kiyosu Conference, the gap between Katsuie and Hideyoshi continued to widen.
In March of the 11th year of Tensho (1583), Katsuie deployed troops to Northern Omi and confronted Hideyoshi. On April 16, taking advantage of Hideyoshi's departure for Gifu, he attacked the Iwayama fortress at Shizugatake. However, Hideyoshi turned back from Mino. Once again, it was his speed of return.
It is said that the withdrawal of Toshiie Maeda's army from the front line at this time was the deciding factor.
Regarding Toshiie, while there is a tradition that Katsuie did not blame him, there is also a view that he had been in contact with Hideyoshi beforehand. Even in modern research, interpretations seem to differ. I cannot judge which is true.
On April 24 of the 11th year of Tensho, Katsuie committed suicide along with Lady Oichi at Kitanosho Castle. He is said to have been 62 years old. However, because there are various theories about his birth year, this age is not definitive.
Oichi's three daughters were sent out of the castle. They were Chacha, Hatsu, and Go.
He would remain, and his daughters would be sent away. That was the final decision he made.
8. Conclusion
There is something I have been thinking about the whole time I have been writing this.
When I feel frustrated by Nobunaga's end, I was frustrated by the thought that "it was so close." The frustration of being cut off just before completion.
In Katsuie's case, it is a little different. For him, there was no "so close." He was simply too late. Even though he was running, it was already over by the time he arrived.
And this form feels more relatable to me.
"So close" sounds like a matter of talent or luck. "Too late" is a matter of planning and positioning. The latter is closer to what happens in a company.
That is why I think I want to root for Katsuie. Because the way he lost is a way that I could lose myself.
And as I wrote at the beginning, there is a bit of craftiness in that, too. Because the excuse that "I was just guarding my post" is convenient for protecting oneself.
There is no record anywhere that Katsuie made that excuse. The one who wants to make excuses is probably me.
Even while unable to move, he captured Uozu Castle, and once he was able to move, he headed to Omi, fought at Shizugatake, and in the end, died with his wife in the castle. He sent his daughters away.There is no evidence that he blamed anyone for not making it in time.
That might be the part that hurts the most.
Have you ever had an experience where you didn't make it in time? At that time, what did you blame it on?
I write about people who were pushed to the corners of history or who drew the short straw. I plan to continue doing this. If you enjoyed reading this, it would encourage me if you could leave a like or follow.
Recommended Articles
This is an article about Nobunaga's final moments, exploring the same question of "why does it feel so personal?" It serves as a counterpart to this article.
"Why the Death of Nobunaga Oda Feels So Regrettable, As If It Were My Own"
This is the story of Nobumori Sakuma, who ended up yielding his position as head senior retainer to Katsuie.
"The Man Named Nobumori Sakuma—Written by Nobunaga as Having 'Done Nothing for 30 Years'"
Regarding the Honno-ji Incident itself, which Katsuie failed to reach in time, I have organized five theories surrounding Mitsuhide's motives.
"Why Did Mitsuhide Akechi Betray Him?—Fairly Organizing 5 Theories on the 'Honno-ji Incident'"
Main References
This article refers to descriptions based on the following historical materials and research. Since there are parts I could not verify against the original sources, I have noted them in the text as "it is said that..." or "there is a theory that..."
"Shinchō Kōki"
"Kawakado Taikōki" (Descriptions regarding the Kiyosu Conference. In recent years, it has been pointed out that this includes creative elements.)
"Tōdaiki"
"Kansei Chōshū Shokafu"
There are various theories regarding Katsuie Shibata's birth year, and his age at death has not been confirmed. The composition of the conflict at the Kiyosu Conference and the actions of Toshiie Maeda at Shizugatake are still subject to debate. In this text, I have written about them without committing to one side.