I came across this on the H-Japan list - I assume it will all fit...
H-NET BOOK REVIEWPublished by
H-Japan@... (July, 2001)
Jeroen Lamers. _Japonius Tyrannus: The Japanese Warlord Oda
Nobunaga Reconsidered_. Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2000. 280 pp.
Tables, maps, notes, bibliography, and index. $65.00 (cloth),ISBN 90-
74822-22-3.
Reviewed for H-Japan by Suzanne Gay <
suzanne.gay@...>,
East Asian Studies Program, Oberlin CollegeA New Biography of Oda
Nobunaga
Jeroen Lamers has written a biography of Oda Nobunaga, the
sixteenth century warrior who was the first of the so-called
three great unifiers of early modern Japan. The study focuses
particularly on the policies and actions of Nobunaga during the
years of his national ascendancy, 1568-82. Mr. Lamers has
consulted a wide range of contemporary sources: in addition to
numerous official documents, these include the Shincho Kyou-ki
by Oota Gyuuichi, Nobunaga's first chronicler, the Jesuit
records, and diaries like the Kanemi Kyou-ki and Tokitsugu
Kyou-ki. Mr. Lamers has also taken full measure of the works
of Japanese and western historians in his treatment of thisimportant
figure.
This monograph contributes in several important ways to the
literature on Nobunaga and sixteenth century Japan. First, it
is the only thorough treatment of Nobunaga's career and
achievements in a western language. Although we have read about
Nobunaga, or at least Nobunaga's policies, in the context of the
Sengoku period and are aware of his main achievements, it tends
to be mainly as a forerunner to Hideyoshi and Ieyasu that he is
remembered. In a full treatment of his life his achievements
are better appreciated not only for what came after him but for
what he achieved in his own times. Second, we can better
appreciate Nobunaga's genius as a military and especially
political tactician when we see the tremendous odds against
which he struggled all his adult life, besieged by enemies on
all sides. Although the Japanese political scene fell into
disarray once Nobunaga was assassinated, his policies and
campaigns had indeed unified great portions of the country by
the time Hideyoshi took control. In his drive to take Kyoto and
in his decision to settle in Azuchi, near but not in the ancient
capital, Nobunaga defined himself as a national leader and not
simply as the head of a coalition of warriors. Finally, by
giving close attention to the years 1568 through 1573, Mr.
Lamers shows the Muromachi shogunate under the active leadership
of the last shogun, Yoshiaki, to have been much more vital and
politically significant even immediately prior to its demise
than is usually thought.
Mr. Lamers approaches the story of Nobunaga's life primarily as
a series of scholarly debates which he presents, analyzes and,
often, dismisses in whole or in part. He then puts forth his
own revisionist conclusions, some of which are persuasive and
carefully considered, and certainly demonstrate familiarity with
both Japanese and western scholarship. Nevertheless, this
approach, however valid it may be in a dissertation, imparts a
pedantic quality to a biography and detracts from what should be
the narrative thrust of Nobunaga's life. Some of the scholarly
judgments, moreover, come across as excessively dismissive. Asao
Naohiro's thinking on the concept of tenka, for instance, should
not be dismissed out of hand (p. 128) simply because the author
is determined to refute the theory of Nobunaga's
self-deification. It is quite possible, it seems to me, that
Nobunaga had the intellectual capacity, not to mention political
shrewdness, to apply concepts of statehood to his rule. Mr.
Lamers, however, seems determined to portray him at all costs asa
pragmatist.
Mr. Lamers has extensively mined contemporary Jesuit writings in
his study. These are valuable if biased sources, as he reminds
the reader frequently: they record events that corroborate
Japanese sources and they contain some descriptions of Japanese
life not found elsewhere, but their interpretation of events is
often self-interested. Unfortunately, Mr. Lamers too frequently
gets sidetracked into a determination to undermine these
sources, and in the process the narrative of Nobunaga's life is
relegated to the wings: for instance, the author attacks at
length the Jesuits' portrayal of Nobunaga as a supporter of
Christianity, and later refutes Luis Frois' assertion of
Nobunaga's self-deification. Nobunaga's relationship with the
Jesuits was indeed one part of his consolidation of power and
isolation of certain enemies. The author might have analyzed it
to explicate aspects of Nobunaga's character germane to his hold
on power: his shrewdness, his fascination with the unknown and
the exotic, and at the same time his prudence. Instead, Mr.
Lamers gets caught up in showing the Jesuits to be vain and
misguided in their belief that Nobunaga supported them. (This
argument, incidentally, turns out to be a non-starter: some of
the sources cited show in fact a very accurate and sober Jesuit
understanding of Nobunaga's motives in granting them favorable
treatment.) Ultimately, the space devoted to critiquing the
Jesuit sources is disproportionate to this relatively minor
aspect of Nobunaga's life.
As the subtitle suggests, Mr. Lamers is at pains to challenge
the standard view of Nobunaga as a cruel and brutal tyrant.
Again, he implicates the Jesuits as the original culprits, with
the label sticking even in the most recent scholarship on
Nobunaga. To refute this, Mr. Lamers presents events as they
may have appeared to Nobunaga and argues, often persuasively,
that the actions he took were (simply) those of a pragmatic,
decisive, non-ideological, and extremely ambitious warrior.
Perhaps so, but in the end there are enough cases of massive
slaughter, deliberate disgrace and humiliation of less worthy
vassals, ruthless treatment of enemies, and, to put it mildly,
iconoclastic treatment of Buddhist groups that the original
label remains quite apt. But after all, brutality was
widespread in the sixteenth century, and not only in Japan. Yet
is this the best yardstick by which to assess Nobunaga? By
focusing so heavily on brutality Mr. Lamers places central
emphasis on a moral evaluation of Nobunaga's character, in the
process missing other standards by which to consider his place
in history. In his conclusion, which is too mild considering
the weight of the story he has just told, Lamers ends by merely
saying that "the best adjectives to characterise Nobunaga's rule
and personality are not "callous and brutal" but "pragmatic and
ruthless" (p. 232). Surely there is more that could be said of
the career and contributions of this brilliant military and
political tactician. Mr. Lamers points out that the treatment
of Nobunaga by early modern Japanese chroniclers and historians
in the early modern period is a huge topic requiring a separate
study. Nonetheless, a summary, at least, of the early modern
Japanese writings on Nobunaga would have balanced the attention
given to Jesuit writings, and perhaps helped better define a
historical niche for Nobunaga.
Nobunaga's reputation as a cruel and ruthless warrior rests in
part on his treatment, audacious for its times, of institutional
Buddhism. In 1571 his forces attacked and burned Enryakuji, the
great Tendai monastery on Mt. Hiei, and slaughtered its
thousands of monks. This study portrays the event as payback
for Enryakuji's monks joining forces opposed to Nobunaga in
earlier conflicts--"a matter of restoring his military
credibility and saving his personal honor" (p. 76). While
allowing that this was an unprecedented act of sacrilege,
however, Mr. Lamers does not convey Enryakuji's powerful
position in the medieval economy and religion, and thus somewhat
underrates the importance of the event. Quite simply, no
earlier ruler could have even contemplated such a move. By
sacking Enryakuji, Nobunaga obliterated one of the foundations
of the medieval order. His other "encounter" with Buddhism was
his long struggle against the well-organized and persistent
forces of the Honganji. It is true that these forces lacked the
monastic character of the monks at Hiei, but ascribing
Nobunaga's motives in this campaign partly to a loathing for
"farmers" is less than satisfying, especially given the carnage
at Nagashima. Nobunaga had a clear vision of the religious
obstacles that stood in his way, and he pursued themrelentlessly.
Finally, one comes away from this study with a much greater
appreciation for Nobunaga's achievements, but without much of a
sense of Nobunaga as a person. Premodern sources are, of
course, notoriously intractable about shedding light on
individuals, and Mr. Lamers eschews at the outset a
psychohistorical approach. Nevertheless, more discussion of
Nobunaga's character and times would have yielded a fuller
portrait of him without requiring a foray into psychoanalysis.
For instance, one wonders about the sixteenth century warrior
family and its ethos: was it unusual for a younger brother to
overshadow the eldest son, as Nobunaga did? And was Nobunaga
unusual in sometimes favoring collateral relatives over his own
sons? The case of Nobunaga's first marriage, dissolved over
inter-familial politics, cries out for some discussion of
marriage practices. The role in the Araki Crisis of the
Christian daimyo with their high regard for loyalty offers an
opportunity to discuss this virtue in the context of late
sixteenth century Japanese warrior society. Despite some missed
opportunities, however, Mr. Lamers has produced a comprehensive
and illuminating account of Nobunaga's career and policies.
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