岐阜城

The Headquarters of Tenka Fubu: Gifu Castle and Oda Nobunaga

Gifu Castle sits atop 329-meter Mount Kinkasan in the heart of Gifu City, celebrated as the stronghold from which Oda Nobunaga launched his campaign to unify Japan. The castle's origins trace to the early Kamakura period (13th century), when it was known as Inabayama Castle. In the Sengoku era it was the base of Saitō Dōsan, the scheming "Viper of Mino."

When Nobunaga captured Inabayama Castle in 1567, he renamed it "Gifu" — taking one character from China's sacred Mount Qi and one from Qufu, associated with ancient sage-kings — encoding his vast ambition for national unification in the very name of his castle. Simultaneously, Nobunaga began using his famous "Tenka Fubu" (Rule the realm by force) seal, making Gifu Castle the launching pad of his rise to power.

Nobunaga's Aesthetic Vision: The Spectacular Mountain Palace

Nobunaga developed Gifu Castle not merely as a military fortress but as a stage for expressing his power and aesthetic sensibility. The hilltop tower was a magnificent structure with gilded decorations overlooking the Nagara River. The mountain-foot palace hosted daimyō and foreign missionaries alike.

Jesuit missionaries including Luis Frois visited Gifu and recorded Nobunaga's castle and lifestyle. Their accounts describe interiors decorated with gold and silver and floors covered with tiger and leopard pelts. Nobunaga's openness to foreign culture extended to his sword commissions — he ordered blades from the finest smiths of his day.

Nobunaga and Swords: The Deep Connection with Mino and Seki Smiths

Central to Gifu Castle's sword heritage is its relationship with the Seki swordsmiths of Mino province. Seki (present-day Seki City, Gifu Prefecture) has been a swordmaking center since the Kamakura period, carrying the Mino tradition descended from Shizu Kaneuji. By the late Muromachi period, Seki masters such as Izumi-no-kami Kanesada (Nosada) and Seki Magoroku Kanemoto were active, and Nobunaga relied heavily on their products.

The most famous sword associated with Nobunaga is Yakumaruki Tōshirō — a tantō by Awataguchi Yoshimitsu, said to have been seized from the Miyoshi clan. Legend holds that when surrounded during the Honnō-ji Incident, Nobunaga tried to commit ritual suicide with this dagger but found it would not cut; he eventually used another blade (the truth remains unclear). Yakumaruki Tōshirō later passed to the Tokugawa family and remains famous today.

Nobunaga's sword policy had political dimensions beyond personal collecting. He confiscated famous blades and redistributed them as rewards to vassals, managing loyalty through the gift of swords. He also invited skilled smiths to Gifu to ensure a stable supply of swords for his army — a precursor to the Edo shogunate's later official smith system.

The Seki Blade Industry: Gifu-Mino's Sword Heritage

Located near Nobunaga's base, Seki is still globally renowned as a "knife town," with blade museums, workshops, and established cutlery shops. During the Edo period, Mino swordsmiths were ranked among Japan's "three finest craftsmen" (alongside Kyoto carpenters and Osaka plasterers).

Modern Seki hosts the annual "Seki Blade Festival" (October), a major event drawing blade enthusiasts from across Japan. The Gifu Prefectural Cutlery Hall exhibits and sells Seki blades, making it one of the best places to experience Japan's blade culture. Combining a visit to Gifu Castle with Seki's blade heritage provides a deep understanding of Mino's blade industry from Nobunaga's era to the present.

Gifu Castle Today: Tower and Views

The current tower, rebuilt in 1956 in reinforced concrete by civic enthusiasm, evokes the castle's historic grandeur and serves as Gifu City's landmark. The interior houses a museum with exhibits on Nobunaga and the castle's history. Mount Kinkasan is accessible by ropeway or hiking trail, and the view from the tower over the Nagara River and Gifu city is breathtaking.