NEWS! Viper of Mino, Saito Dosan Letter Mentioning Oda Nobunaga Discovered!
Valuable material concerning Oda Nobunaga - A letter from his father-in-law, Saito Dosan has been discovered.
According to NHK News (dated April 24, 2024 5:48am) a letter written by the Viper of Mino, Saito Dosan (1494 – May 28, 1556), the father-in-law of Sengoku warlord Oda Nobunaga, has been discovered and authenticated by experts. The letter to a neighboring feudal lord about Nobunaga, mentions, “Although he is young and has some shortcomings, I hope you will continue to support him for a long time.'' Experts point out, that this is a valuable document that shows that Dosan actually cared about Nobunaga.
The privately owned letter was deposited by an individual at the Mito City Museum this month and has been investigated and authenticated by Associate Professor Murai Yuki of the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo.
According to this, this letter was written by Saito Dosan, a Sengoku period military commander who ruled the central Mino Province, a region that is now Gifu Prefecture, to the lord of a nearby region, and based on its contents and signature, it was probably written around 1552. This is around the time that Dosan orchestrated the marriage of his daughter Nohime to Nobunaga, following Nobunaga’s father, warlord Oda Nobuhide having lost the 1547 Battle of Kanoguchi against the Saito, and again in 1549. The marriage was a political one to form bonds between the Oda and the Saito.
In the letter, Saito Dosan writes; “I am glad that you and Nobunaga are very close,'' and also said of Nobunaga, “He is young and has some shortcomings, but I hope you will forgive me and continue to support him for a long time.'' Exactly who Dosan is corresponding with is not mentioned.
According to the Shincho Koki, the Chronicles of Lord Nobunaga, a series of documents covering Nobunaga's life compiled by his close aide, Ota Gyuichi, Dosan met the young Nobunaga for the first time about the time this letter is believed to have been written. Nobunaga’s eccentric behavior and appearance at the time led to him being called “The Fool of Owari” by those around him. (Owari Province, now western Aichi Prefecture was the Oda clan’s original territory.) It is said that Dosan recognized Nobunaga's talent, and that the foolish behavior was most probably a smoke screen to hide Nobunaga’s true intelligence and drive. By being seen as a fool, potential rivals would not have considered him a threat.
Associate Professor Murai said in the NHK interview that, “Very few of Dosan's letters remain, and it is rare that he even mentions Nobunaga. In this letter, it is clearly written that Dosan appears to have cherished and cared for Nobunaga. It is a valuable document that supports the descriptions in the Shincho Koki.”
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