In Nagoya grew up a boy his own clan called the great fool. He dressed like a vagrant, ate as he walked through the streets and flung incense at the altar during his father's funeral. Years later he defeated an army ten times his size, armed his troops with arquebuses on an unprecedented scale and set in motion the unification of a Japan that had been at war for a century. Twelve stops between the ruins of his childhood castle, the garden of the Tokugawa lords, the palace reborn from the ashes, the tower of the golden dolphins, the Toyoda brick factory, the shrine of the peasant who came to rule Japan, Kiyosu Castle, the temple of the thrown incense, the street of free markets, the shrine of the sacred sword, the wall of gratitude and the battlefield of Okehazama. Approximate audio duration: 25 minutes.
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Nagoya: Oda Nobunaga, el gran idiota que empezó a unir Japón tras un siglo de guerras
En Nagoya creció un muchacho al que su propio clan llamaba el gran idiota. Se vestía como un vagabundo, comía caminando por la calle y tiró el incienso sobre el altar en el funeral de su padre. Años después derrotó a un ejército diez veces mayor, armó a sus tropas con arcabuces a una escala nunca vista y puso en marcha la unificación de un Japón que llevaba un siglo en guerra. Doce paradas entre las ruinas del castillo de su infancia, el jardín de los señores Tokugawa, el palacio renacido de las cenizas, la torre de los delfines dorados, la fábrica de ladrillo de los Toyoda, el santuario del campesino que llegó a gobernar Japón, el castillo de Kiyosu, el templo del incienso arrojado, la calle de los mercados libres, el santuario de la espada sagrada, el muro de la gratitud y el campo de batalla de Okehazama. Duración aproximada de audio: 25 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~25 min of audio · 38.42 km on foot (~9 h 35 min walking) · about 10 h in total
You are in the Ninomaru, the second enclosure of Nagoya Castle. Look among the trees for a stone with carved characters. It marks the site of a castle much older and much more modest than the one you see behind you.
That first castle was written with different characters, though it was pronounced the same: Nagoya. The Imagawa clan built it in the 1520s. A few years later an ambitious local warrior, Oda Nobuhide, took it from them.
In 1534 Nobuhide had a son named Kippōshi. He is the boy history knows as Oda Nobunaga. Tradition says he was born here, although many historians believe he was bo…
2
The Great Fool of Owari
You are in front of the Ninomaru garden, with its stones, its pines and its gravel paths. The Tokugawa lords built it centuries later. But this is the same ground the young Nobunaga walked on.
In the province they called him the ōutsuke, the great fool. We know why thanks to Ōta Gyūichi, a samurai who served him and wrote his chronicle, the Shinchō kōki.
Ōta tells us Nobunaga went about in a sleeveless kimono, short trousers and a cluster of little pouches hanging from his belt. He tied his hair with garish coloured cords. In the street he ate chestnuts, persimmons and melons as he walked, l…
3
The Heir's Palace
You are in front of the Honmaru Palace, with its grey tiled roofs and its pale cypress wood. It looks brand new, and in a way it is. But behind it lies a story that begins with Nobunaga.
In 1555 Nobunaga left this place to settle at Kiyosu, further to the north-west. The old Nagoya castle passed into other hands, and by around 1582 it had been abandoned. For almost thirty years there were only fields and ruins here.
In 1610 another man arrived who had known Nobunaga very well: Tokugawa Ieyasu. As a boy he had been a hostage of the Oda in this very province. Later he was Nobunaga's most loyal…
4
The Tower Nobunaga Invented
Look up at the castle's main keep. At the very top, on the tips of the roof, two golden figures gleam. They are shachihoko, creatures with a tiger's head and a fish's body that, according to belief, protected the building from fire.
The original keep was completed around 1612. It burned in the air raid of 1945, and in 1959 the concrete replica you see was raised. Since 2018 it has been closed to the public while a reconstruction in wood, like the original, is debated.
This kind of tall, painted tower, visible from far away, has a direct ancestor: Azuchi Castle. Nobunaga built it between 1576…
5
Arquebuses in Bulk
You are in front of a long red-brick building. It is a spinning mill the Toyoda family built in 1911. Today it is the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, the place where the story that would end with Toyota cars began.
I brought you here because of an idea Nobunaga grasped before many others: in war, the winner is whoever can produce more, faster and with more money.
In 1543 a ship carrying Portuguese traders reached the island of Tanegashima in southern Japan. They brought arquebuses. Within a few years Japanese smiths had copied them and were making them in workshops su…
6
The Peasant Who Finished the Job
You are in Nakamura Park, in front of the Toyokuni Shrine. Look at the great torii at the entrance. This shrine, built in 1885, honours a man born in this village in 1537: Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Hideyoshi came from the bottom. His family were peasants and foot soldiers, with no prestigious name. In a society obsessed with lineage, that condemned him to a small life.
Around 1554 he entered Nobunaga's service as a servant. There is a famous story: in winter he warmed his lord's sandals by keeping them against his chest. It is probably a later legend, but it says something true.
Nobunaga promoted…
7
The Dance Before the Battle
You are in front of Kiyosu Castle, beside the Gojō River. The white tower you see is a 1989 reconstruction, inspired by other castles of the period, because no plans of the original survive. But this was the real centre of power in Owari.
In 1555 Nobunaga took Kiyosu and eliminated Oda Nobutomo, the nominal head of his clan. From here he ruled for eight years. And from here he crushed the relatives who challenged his power.
The most dangerous was his own younger brother, Nobuyuki, who rebelled twice. In 1557 Nobunaga pretended to be ill and summoned him to Kiyosu for a visit. When Nobuyuki a…
8
The Thrown Incense
You are in front of Banshō-ji temple, in the heart of the Osu district. It is the family temple founded in 1540 by Oda Nobuhide, Nobunaga's father. At first it stood near the old castle; in 1610 it was moved here, when the Tokugawa built their new Nagoya.
Here you need to step back a few years in the story. In 1551 Nobuhide died. A great funeral was held with hundreds of monks, and the whole clan was present.
Nobunaga arrived late. According to Ōta's chronicle, he came in his usual clothes: hair tied with a cord, his sword held with a straw rope and without the formal divided skirt. He walke…
9
Free Markets
You are in the covered arcades of Osu, among food stalls, second-hand clothes shops and electronics stores. At the end of the street you can see the great red temple of Osu Kannon. Tokugawa Ieyasu moved it here in 1612, and around the temples a district of trade and entertainment grew up.
This bustle helps explain one of Nobunaga's most modern ideas. In the Japan of his day, trade was full of obstacles. Guilds called za held the monopoly on each product, and to enter a market you had to pay them.
On top of that came the tolls. Every lord, every temple, every noble set up barriers on the road…
10
The Morning Prayer
You are at Atsuta Shrine, in front of the main hall, surrounded by enormous camphor trees. It is one of the most important shrines in Japan. According to tradition, it holds Kusanagi, the sacred sword that is part of the imperial regalia. No one displays it: not even the priests show it.
On the morning of the battle of Okehazama, in 1560, Nobunaga rode here from Kiyosu. According to the chronicle it was around eight o'clock. He came almost alone, with a handful of horsemen.
He stopped at the shrine to wait for his troops, who were trickling in along the roads. From here he saw the smoke risi…
11
The Wall of Gratitude
You are in front of the Nobunaga-bei, Nobunaga's wall. Notice how it is built: layers of rammed earth and, between them, rows of roof tiles showing as dark stripes. On top it has a small roof of its own.
According to shrine tradition, Nobunaga donated it after his victory at Okehazama, in thanks to the gods of Atsuta for the help he had received.
The technique was no small thing. The earth was mixed with lime and oil to harden it and protect it from rain. The interleaved tiles strengthened the structure. That is why a section has survived for more than four centuries.
In Japan it is counted…
12
Okehazama, Under the Storm
You are in the park of the old Okehazama battlefield, among low houses and gentle hills. Look for the two statues: Nobunaga standing, young, and opposite him Imagawa Yoshimoto, the great lord who came to crush him. Today it is a quiet neighbourhood. In 1560 it was a landscape of wooded hills and narrow valleys.
Yoshimoto was lord of Suruga, Tōtōmi and Mikawa. He was advancing on Owari with an army several times larger than Nobunaga's. Among his commanders was a seventeen-year-old: Matsudaira Motoyasu, the future Tokugawa Ieyasu.
At midday Yoshimoto was resting here with his guard, confident …
How long does the "Nagoya: Oda Nobunaga, the Great Fool Who Began to Unite Japan After a Century of War" audio tour take?
It has about 25 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 38.42 km walking route (~9 h 35 min on foot). Plan roughly 10 h in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Castle Before the Castle" (coordinates 35.1838, 136.9028). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Nagoya and pick "Nagoya: Oda Nobunaga, the Great Fool Who Began to Unite Japan After a Century of War". No account required to start.
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No wifi needed · Spanish, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean
