Nobunaga's Ambition: Tenka Fubu

The Gregorian Calendar will call this year 1540; you will know it as the ninth year of the Tenbun Era, or "9 Tenbun." Since the time of the Ōnin War (1467-77), war has ravaged the land. This time, known to later generations as the Sengoku Jidai, the Age of Warring States, is well-named, for it is marked by chaos and upheaval. Local warlords called daimyō vie for power, and the warrior elite - the samurai - command armies of soldiers and conscripted peasants to struggle on countless battlefields, promised great glory and wealth in return. Subordinates overthrow their superiors for power, and the traditional bonds of master and servant that society has been built on begin to break down, slowly but surely.

In this year, you have been born to a samurai family. Your family serve as retainers to more powerful lords in Owari Province. By virtue of your birth alone, it is inevitable that you will be drawn into the chaos and bloodshed of the times, called upon to fight, struggle and perhaps die for your clan and your lord.

What is the name of your clan?

[] Hayashi

The Hayashi clan are staunch allies to the southern faction of the Oda Clan, the Nagoya-Oda. The Hayashi are a branch clan of the Inaba clan of Mino, who themselves are distant descendants of the Emperor Kanmu (736-805) through the Kōno clan.

The head of the clan is your uncle Hayashi Hidesada, who commands great prestige and power within the Nagoya-Oda as the highest-ranking of the karō (house elders). Along with the second-ranking karō, Hirate Masahide, he serves as guardian and tutor to Lord Nobuhide's oldest legitimate son, Kippōshi. Your father is Hidesada's younger brother, Hayashi Michitomo.

[] Kira

The original branch of the Kira clan are a minor house in neighboring Mikawa Province; your own branch of the clan were forced to flee into Owari years ago when the Matsudaira clan began to expand their control over much of the province. The Kira are a very minor branch clan of the Ashikaga, the ruling Shogunal house, and thus are also descendants of the Seiwa Genji who founded the office of the Shogun itself.

The head of the clan is your father Kira Yoshihiro, a humble and modest man who serves the Nagoya-Oda as a retainer. His rank and esteem in his lord's eyes were both quite low until Lord Nobuhide's recent campaign in Mikawa, where your father's knowledge and connections proved invaluable in claiming swaths of territory in western Mikawa and even the submission of the powerful Mizuno clan, whose head Mizuno Tadamasa is the father of your mother. Your father has been attached to the service of Lord Nobuhide's illegitimate son, Nobuhiro, who has been invested as the lord of Ansho Castle and tasked with guarding the Oda's gains in Mikawa. As Lord Nobuhiro is still quite young, your father serves a significant role in both domestic and military affairs at Ansho.

[] Kanma

The Kanma clan are nominal servants to the Shiba, the nominal Shugo (Governor) house of Owari. In actuality they, like many other Shiba "vassals," serve the Oda, the Shiba's nominal Shugodai (Deputy Governor). Though the Oda try to maintain a polite fiction of unity, in truth the clan is divided into two factions: the northern Kiyosu-Oda and the southern Nagoya-Oda. Many retainer families are attempting to curry favor with both sides, keeping their options open to see how the conflict between the two develops. The Kanma are among these clans, as are clans like the Niwa and Maeda. The Kanma are relatively recent arrivals in Owari: they are a branch clan of the Utsunomiya, a prominent clan in Shimotsuke Province. After your great-grandfather failed to usurp control of the clan due to a treacherous retainer, he and his family were forced to flee the province and eventually settled in Owari.

The current head of the Kanma is your grandfather, Kanma Harufusa. He serves as karō to the Shiba clan, and he deals cannily with both factions of the Oda in an attempt to keep favor despite his somewhat precarious position as the chief retainer of a puppet ruler. Thus far, he has been quite successful, and his three eldest sons have proven very useful in strengthening the clan's position by virtue of their own talents. The eldest son, the Kanma clan's current heir, is your father, Kanma Harutaka.

Not yet.

Just to be clear, "Heavenly Star in the Age of War" is still going to be updated. Also, one more.

So I put up a map of Japan and its provinces in the "Lore & Information" threadmark, which is a good opportunity to talk about them a bit.

The Asuka Period (538-710) saw the introduction of Chinese ideas and influences to Japan (at least, on a larger scale than had existed previously), such as Buddhism. Several influential personages in the imperial court picked up on these Chinese influences; the most famous is Prince Shōtoku, easily one of the most famous personages in Japanese history (within Japan itself, that is), who led a movement for greater reforms. He was opposed by others who pushed against these foreign influences for their own reasons. The conflict is interesting, but kind of a digression.

The point is that by 645, the court started embracing these changes. Confucian models of etiquette and ranking were established, numerous roads and Buddhist temples were built, and court nobles were sent to study and learn in Sui Dynasty China to bring back more knowledge and culture to the court. In 645, the Taika Reforms were passed, an attempt at land and governmental reform in line with Confucian principles. This is when Japan's ruler first became called an Emperor (Tennō in Japanese), and when the "imperial court" became called such.

Of course, in reality no change this big ever happens all at once, and the reforms of the Japanese government to a Chinese-influenced model took a very long time. Throughout the rest of the Asuka and pretty much the entire succeeding Nara Period (710-794), the imperial court would repeatedly write new reforms to bring the country in-line with Tang Dynasty China politically, legally, philosophically and even culturally. These reforms were collectively called Ritsuryō, and were primarily based upon Confucianism and Legalism.

The important one right now is the Taihō Code, which among many other important things first established the system of provinces (called kuni) in Japan. This system is called Kokugunri.

Essentially, the land was divided into provinces which would be overseen by administrative governors appointed by the court, called kokushi. There were four levels of kokushi (kami, suke, jo and sakan). Below the four kokushi and the province-level division, there were districts called gun, which were administered by locally appointed officials called gunji.

The number of provinces was not fixed; larger provinces existed in the frontiers because of lower populations, and as they developed they would be divided into smaller provinces for ease of administration.

This, along with many other ritsuryō reforms, was designed to increase the power of the central government and give them precedence and control over local governments, in the vein of the powerful central governments of many Chinese dynasties. There were, of course, several uniquely Japanese quirks to these reforms (and some just blatantly designed to keep the people in power in power), such as the fact that court ranks and positions remained hereditary rather than being opened up to promotion through merit, and the fact that the Japanese rejected the idea of the Mandate of Heaven, decreeing that the Emperor held his position through divine heritage rather than through his righteousness.

For various reasons, the imperial court had mixed or limited success with a lot of their reforms. These attempts to centralize power and authority with the imperial court eventually failed, leading to the rise of powerful regional clans with significant military power - the first samurai, more or less. Eventually, these samurai fought for power over the imperial court itself, and the position of Shōgun was created by the victorious Minamoto clan in 1185.

Also in 1185 the first Shōgun, Minamoto no Yoritomo, began the practice of appointing his own officials to administer the provinces in his name, in effect rendering the kokushi completely obsolete (kokushi titles, however, were a very popular honorary reward that was handed out like freaking candy until the Meiji Restoration). These were the shugo, and the first shugo were almost exclusively people who had been helpful to Yoritomo in his ascension to power. Many of his supporters were made shugo of several different provinces, and to help administer them (or, often, just do all the work in general) and to provide rewards to their own supporters (a must in any feudal system), these shugo appointed deputies, called shugodai, to help them out. He also appointed other officials called gokenin to administer the vast shogunal lands throughout the provinces and provide a check on the power of the shugodai. However, just like the shugo, the power of the gokenin became more-or-less hereditary and expected, and their loyalty to the government decayed. By the end of the Minamoto Shōgunate, Japan was once again just a massive patchwork of feudal estates.

The succeeding Ashikaga Shōgunate kept up this system but tried to take power back from the gokenin and other hereditary landholders who made enemies of them. At their height, the Ashikaga shōguns controlled 25% of the land claimed by Japan, but this led to a lot of fear and bitterness amongst both their enemies and allies, and these insecurities eventually ended up causing the Sengoku Jidai.

How exactly? Well, gokenin actually shared inheritance between sons, meaning their estates ended up becoming tiny. To keep the shōgun from taking your land, you couldn't do that; you needed as much land and wealth as you could. So the first daimyō emerged; holders of estates that would pass intact to a single heir, who often wasn't even a blood relation but was instead some promising man who was adopted specifically to be the heir and ensure the continuity of the clan's name and holdings.

At the same time, shugo also began to evolve into samurai; beginning with the Ōnin War, many shugo began to struggle for power with each other in earnest, as the weakness of the Ashikaga meant it was open season on power-grabbing. Of course, many shugo and gokenin couldn't make the change-over to daimyō, and were overthrown by ambitious retainers.

What this means is that, by the time of this quest, the divisions between provinces doesn't really matter as much in practical terms. The feudal domains - han - of daimyō and their vassals matters more in practical terms than the provinces. The Tokugawa did still use them for things like taking censuses and the like, though.

But the provinces are much better recorded and less fluid divisions than those of han, so they're going to be seeing a lot of use in this quest. And although it's ahistorical, I'll be including the division of the huge provinces of Dewa and Mutsu in the north into the smaller provinces created when the Meiji government briefly flirted with the idea of restoring the provinces as a practical system of governmental administration after they abolished the feudal system (and also including Oshima Province, the only part of Hokkaido that's seen colonization by the Japanese at this time). The Meiji ended up instead instituting the prefecture system which is the administrative system in use to this day.

Though, funny enough, provinces still technically exist, they just serve no actual function except in names for local foods and train stations and such.

Incidentally, the Taihō Code which created the provinces was put into effect in 703. Technically, this means the provincial system has existed for 1,414 years. Just a thought.

3 Tenbun (1534)

Oda Kankūro Nobuhide. Though merely a senior retainer to the true leaders of the Oda clan, through his great skill at finance and strategy, he had grown in influence and power to the point that he could rival his nominal lord, exerting de facto control over the four southern districts of Owari Province - Aichi, Chita, Kaisei and Kaitō.

All of this, he had accomplished by the age of 24, when his first legitimate son was born, and given a childhood name, Kippōshi, a few days afterward, as was customary. It was for this occasion that he had called his two most important advisers to meet him in the audience hall of Nagoya Castle.

Hayashi Hidesada held great power as Nobuhide's primary adviser on domestic matters, ensuring the smooth collection of taxes and the securing the peace and goodwill of the peasantry. Meanwhile, Hirate Masahide was Nobuhide's primary diplomat, representing his interests with neighboring daimyō and other powerful men, and had even made a visit to the imperial court on Nobuhide's behalf.

Nobuhide sat at one end of the room atop a raised dais. His two karō sat several feet away, sitting on cushions that had been provided for them after they had given the customary greetings.

"Hidesada. Masahide. I suppose the two of you are wondering why I've brought you here," Nobuhide said, almost without preamble. A busy man, he was known for being spare with his words. "I intend to entrust Kippōshi's care and education to the two of you."

Though surprised, the two men bowed in assent to the command. "This one will devote body and soul to the task, my lord," Hidesada replied quickly.

"This one, as well, will do all he can to ensure my lord's son becomes a fine warrior," Masahide agreed.

"But, if this one were to venture a question…" Hidesada trailed off, continuing only once Nobuhide nodded his head as a sign to go on. "Are two truly necessary for this task? Though this one is of little talent, Lord Kippōshi is merely my lord's second child…"

Masahide stiffened at the question, but did not speak up, as Nobuhide answered.

"Hidesada. You're well aware that Nobuhiro is not my wife's son. Besides, the Oda are beset on all sides by enemies; what fool will trust that all his sons will live to adulthood? If Nobuhiro proves unfit, or dies in battle, Kippōshi will lead the Oda.

"So yes, two are necessary for this task. You will both see to his care and education as though he were my formally-appointed heir, and you will do so to the best of your abilities."

Though he had not raised his voice, there was still in his words that caused a prickle in the back of both men's necks. Though many expected the man called the "Tiger of Owari" to be fierce and loud, this was not true; only on the battlefield did Nobuhide ever feel a need to raise his voice. At all other times, he presented an air of total, controlled calm. In some ways, this was even more tiger-like, for some likened him to a tiger stalking its prey, silent but ready to pounce.

"Our apologies for our impertinence, my lord," Masahide said calmly with a bow, drawing a silent sigh of relief from Hidesada at his sharing of the blame. "We will do our utmost to accomplish your will, and see that Kippōshi becomes the very picture of a proper samurai.

"And I am sure that, when it comes time, finding him a proper wife will pose no difficulty. I have heard that he has already charmed all the women in the castle, and that they dote on him endlessly," Masahide concluded with a smile. It was a testament to his good relationship with Nobuhide that he could make such jokes in a formal audience, even with so few other people to witness it.

Nobuhide gave an amused scoff. "I wouldn't know; I've been too busy to see the boy, though I've heard he's even louder and more unruly than most infants are.

"In fact, I'll be busy for a few weeks; Atsuta and Tsushima are acting up again, and I'll need to pay them both a visit to make sure they continue to pay the proper tribute."

The Atsuta and Tsushima shrines were the two most important shrines in Owari; the Atsuta Shrine, in fact, was one of the oldest in Japan, and in terms of prestige was greater than or at least equal to all but the Ise Grand Shrine itself. Towns had built up around both shrines to cater to pilgrims, giving rise to a thriving mercantile community and trade that was vital to the power and wealth of the Nagoya-Oda.

With relatively little land compared to the powerful daimyō that he often faced in battle, Nobuhide needed as much money as he could get his hands on. Thus, he relied on the trade at Atsuta and Tsushima to provide a steady stream of tax revenue to allow his armies to remain competitive. The cooperation of these powerful merchants was crucial, and the simple threat of force would have harmed Nobuhide more than it helped.

These and a myriad other concerns, particularly his schemes to further extend his reach and power not just in Owari but in neighboring Mikawa and Mino, took up most of Nobuhide's time. Though he would have a great number of children with various women, Nobuhide spent very little time getting to know any of them on a personal level. Even his chosen heir would never be able to know Nobuhide as well as he would wish.

And so, these children often turned to the guardians and mentors assigned to them as father figures. Similarly, their wet-nurses were often a larger part of their lives as children than their own mothers, for the daughters and wives of powerful and wealthy men often found themselves ill-suited to the often tiring and dirty business of motherhood. Kippōshi's wet-nurse would be a woman of the Ikeda clan who happened to have had a child of her own at the right time, and the two were raised almost as brothers.

AN: There are going to be a lot of these little snippets, detailing important events that you're not there for, both in Owari and elsewhere.