75 Toyonobu Utagawa ? – 1886 The Battle of Okehazama

publisher: Kobayashi Tetsujirō

This print depicts the famous Battle of Okehazama in June 1560, when Oda Nobunaga defeated the vastly superior army of Imagawa Yoshimoto — outnumbered nearly twelve to one.
Rather than retreat, Nobunaga used a driving rainstorm to launch a surprise attack, achieving a decisive victory that marked the beginning of his ambition to unify Japan and end the civil wars.

Toyonobu conveys the moment of assault with vivid contrasts of rain, light, and movement, characteristic of late Meiji war prints.
The victory at Okehazama paved the way for Nobunaga’s alliance with Tokugawa Ieyasu, who would eventually unify the country, become shogun, and inaugurate the Tokugawa era in 1603.