Enshrined Deity

Sub-deity

Divine Virtues

Oda Mokkou

It is a derived crest from the “Mokkou mon”, and is called “Goka Mokkou” because it has five outer shells. It is commonly called “Oda Mokkou” because it is well known as the family crest of Lord Nobunaga and the Oda family.

The “Mokkou mon” is famous as one of the top 10 family crests, and there are various theories about the origin of the design, including a cross-section theory of a melon, a cucumber, or a quince fruit, a petal theory of a rose family plant such as a melon or quince, and a theory that it comes from a bird’s nest. However, the exact origin is not known.

Oh, evening skylark of the Kyoto fields / I wonder if you may know what I feel / 
　Even just looking up towards you / All that falls down are my tears

A poem composed about the devastation of Kyoto by Iio Tsunefusa (also known as Hikoroku Saemon)

In the third year of the Tenbun era, 1534, Oda Nobunaga was born as the oldest son of Oda Nobuhide, a lord accumulating a considerable amount of power in the southern part of the Owari Province (modern day western Aichi Prefecture). By the second year of the Eiroku era, 1559, Lord Nobunaga had united almost all of the Owari Province, and in May of the third year, 1560, he defeated Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto of the neighboring Suruga Province in the Battle of Okehazama, embracing his ambition of uniting the entire nation of Japan.

（The Revival of Kyoto）
In the tenth year of the Eiroku era, 1567, Lord Oda Nobunaga captured Inabayama Castle and thereby subjugated the Mino Province. In 1568, the eleventh year of the Eiroku era, he proceeded to enter Kyoto under imperial edict from Emperor Ōgimachi, there beginning repairs of the imperial residence. In order not to burden the imperial court with matters of revenue, he took charge of public finances and without overly taxing the people lent his support to the reconstruction of Kyoto City.

（Military Policy）
Along with his ideal of unifying the country, Lord Nobunaga also introduced a career soldier system, separating the social class of soldier and farmer and gathering people to him regardless of what position they held by virtue of birth. He dedicated his efforts to improving Japan’s production of firearms, the construction of warships equipped with cannons, and other technological developments in order to create an armed force with a high maneuverability. In the first year of the Genki era, 1570, he successfully defied the Azai and Asakura clans at the Battle of Anegawa and in 1575, the third year of the Tenshō era, won the Battle of Nagashino by defeating Takeda Katsuyori, continuing to subjugate the remaining provinces.

（Economic Policy）
Lord Nobunaga concentrated considerable effort on the commercial development of those areas he conquered in order to encourage trade, establishing free markets, closing sekisho barrier stations on the highways that restricted the movement of the people, repairing the roads, and putting a system of currency in place. In the later Edo period there was vigorous trade and booming travel of people and goods along the highway routes, and it is said that Lord Nobunaga’s pioneering economic policies enabled this, as well as the modern day economic development of Japan, to occur.

（Separation of Church and State）
Working towards the difficult task of separating religion from government, Lord Nobunaga had to go up against a secularized and militant group of Buddhists who had taken up arms in order to interfere in politics. He set the temple of Enryaku-ji alight, suppressed Jōdō Shin-shū (New Pure Land Buddhism) uprisings in each province, and entered into negotiations for peace with Ishiyama Hongan-ji temple, taking away the political and military power of such groups. Separation of church and state is one condition for a modern nation, and in Europe such efforts only began to advance after religious wars in the 16th to 17th centuries, providing evidence of Lord Nobunaga’s sense of leadership and foresight.

（Foreign Policy）
The 16th century is referred to as The Age of Exploration, and during that time Portugal and Spain set out to establish colonies all over the world. In 1543, guns were first imported into Japan, followed by Christianity in 1549, and in the latter half of the 16th century Portuguese merchant ships often docked in Japanese ports. Lord Nobunaga first met with a Christian missionary in the 12th year of the Eiroku era, 1569, and from that point on he allowed the construction of churches and seminaries. While he used missionaries to learn scientific knowledge and grasp the state of world affairs, he kept his distance and avoided dependence upon them, advancing his own economic and military strength and preventing the colonization of Japan.

（Other）
Though Lord Nobunaga took in Western culture, he also supported nō theater, tea ceremony, the game of Go, horsemanship, falconry, sumo, and other traditional Japanese arts, providing some sense of stability to people’s hearts during that troubled period. He also undertook repairs of Iwashimizu Hachimangu and Atsuta Jingu, as well as supported the revival of the long ceased shikinen sengu tradition of reconstruction at Ise Jingu.

In this way Lord Nobunaga brought an end to the Warring States period, paved the way for the unification of the country, saved the common people from the despair of ruin, revived traditional cultures on the brink of dying out, kept an eye on distant European civilization, accurately grasped the state of world affairs surrounding Japan and bolstered the military strength and wealth of the country, leading Japanese history from the chaos of the Middle Ages into the daybreak of modern times.

In order to create a world of peace and plenty, Lord Nobunaga held firmly to his beliefs and looked at things in perspective instead of allowing himself to be contained by the generally accepted ideas of his time. Pursuing the ideal of a Japan that revered the emperor for the good of all people, he reformed the old government that had reached the limit of its usefulness, maintained public order, and abolished corruption in religious order. Truly, had it not been for Lord Nobunaga’s transcendent knowledge and decisive actions, Japan’s modernization would have been significantly delayed.

Sadly, Lord Nobunaga’s great exploits died with him in the grey morning of June 2nd, 1582, when he lost his life during the Honnō-ji Incident.

When he heard the news of his lord’s death, Toyotomi Hideyoshi immediately moved to defeat the man behind the Honnō-ji Incident, Akechi Mitsuhide, at the Battle of Yamazaki, and then held a grand funeral service for Oda Nobunaga that lasted seven days at Daitoku-ji temple in Murasakino. Furthermore, in order to console Lord Nobunaga’s spirit, Hideyoshi moved to build a temple on top of Mt. Funaoka and install a statue of Nobunaga, given the name Tenshō-ji by Emperor Ōgimachi. However, construction was halted halfway through and the land was instead kept as sacred ground for Lord Nobunaga’s spirit until the Meiji Restoration period.