O D A-----N
O B U N A G A ' S-----W A R S-----B
E T W E E N-----1 5 6 0-----A
N D-----1 5 8 2-----I
N-----C E N T R A L-----&-----W
E S T E R N-----J A P A N
1581 : THE BLACK AUTUMN
OF IGA
The Iga castle (left), and at the center is one of the Iga clansmen (all of whom were ninjas) when Oda invaded the land in 1581. The pinky female ninja at your farthest right is a real-life Iga ninja in 2005 -- they could still live by the 500 years-old reputation, only now it's showbiz. Click here for a detailed and complete map. | Click here for big photographs of actual location of Iga battle | Click here for big photographs of real Iga Ninja | Click here for an unspeakable movie about the Iga ninja clan |
This war was absurdly unnecessary. Although Oda Nobunaga never liked ninjas, this was a war that he was forced to do -- he was left with no choice, to save the clan's face and to make the lost lives of his soldiers to mean something. Oda Nobunaga's lamentable second son Oda Nobuo had conducted his own 'invasion' of Iga in October 1579, and he was hit back so badly that the 'invasion' sprayed mud all over his daddy's reputation. Oda Nobuo did it on his own lack of what it takes to think. He didn't ask for his dad's permission, he didn't consult the Oda clan's Generals either, except one Captain -- Takigawa Kazumasu, whose record of warfare had already been smeared all over by A.W.O.L allegations at the 1573 battle of Mikata plains (click here for story and pictures). And Nobuo couldn't even explain why he must take the virtually inaccessible, super-humid, mountainous, politically and militarily insignificant ninja lair far away from anything as the target of invasion. Oda Nobunaga sent more than 40,000 soldiers to Iga in October 1581. They crushed the Iga clan until the last visible and audible bytes, while the few survivors sought sanctuary within the various ninja domains -- they were taken up by Tokugawa Ieyasu later to add to his already strong and probably the best Central Intelligence Agency in 16th century Japan. |
| NEXT : THE OTHER BATTLES OF ODA NOBUNAGA'S |  |
| THE
ODA ARMY & NAVY
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ODA NOBUNAGA'S WARS
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| BIOGRAPHIES & PICTURES OF ODA NOBUNAGA'S ENEMIES | ||||||||
| Takeda Shingen | Uesugi Kenshin | Asai Nagamasa | Imagawa Yoshimoto | Warrior-Monks | ||||
