🏯 June 21, The Enemy Is at Honnoji

 

🏯 On the Verge of Unification

Oda Nobunaga held half of Japan. He had crushed his greatest rival that spring, and unification was within reach.

Akechi Mitsuhide had served at his side for fourteen years. Versed in court culture, capable on the battlefield.

🔥 Treated with Contempt

Nobunaga trusted him most, and so treated him with the most contempt.

At a banquet, in front of guests, he pushed Mitsuhide's head down. He mocked him as a baldhead.

When Mitsuhide accepted the surrender of Yakami Castle and promised to spare the enemy commander, Nobunaga disregarded the promise and had him killed. In retaliation, Mitsuhide's mother, held as a hostage in enemy territory, was put to death.

He assigned Mitsuhide to host Tokugawa Ieyasu, then dismissed him on the spot, saying the food smelled of fish. The meal Mitsuhide had prepared was thrown into the moat.

He stripped Mitsuhide of his domain in Tanba and gave him lands not yet even conquered.

⚔️ The Enemy Is at Honnoji

In June 1582, Nobunaga ordered Mitsuhide to reinforce the western front. Mitsuhide set out with thirteen thousand men.

He did not go west. He turned his forces toward Kyoto.

Nobunaga was in Kyoto. He had sent all his retainers to the front lines, leaving only about a hundred and fifty men at his side. He was staying, unguarded, at Honnoji, the temple where he always lodged.

In the early hours of June 21, thirteen thousand men surrounded Honnoji. Nobunaga did not know it was a rebellion until he heard the war cries.

🩸 In the Fire

The temple caught fire. Nobunaga withdrew inside and took his own life.

The last thing he did was conceal his body. He feared his head falling into Mitsuhide's hands and being displayed on a pike. His body was never found.

🌑 Thirteen Days

Mitsuhide took Kyoto.

Not a single clan took his side. Even the family of his son-in-law turned away. Hideyoshi in the west made a swift peace with his enemy and marched back two hundred kilometers. On the thirteenth day, Mitsuhide was defeated at the Battle of Yamazaki.

Fleeing that same day, he was killed by a farmer. Stabbed with a bamboo spear, it is said.

His reign lasted thirteen days.

🕯️ What Remained

The betrayal killed the master in the fire, and the betrayer died in a field thirteen days later. Neither left a body intact.

The realm passed to Hideyoshi. The one who treated another with contempt, and the one who raised a sword in return, neither lived to see the realm united.