“Human life is fifty years. In the span of this world, it is but a dream and an illusion. Is there anyone who is born and does not die?”
— Oda Nobunaga
Passage from the Kowaka-mai dance 'Atsumori,' performed by Nobunaga before the Battle of Okehazama, June 12, 1560. Recorded in Shincho Koki by Ota Gyuichi.
June 1560. Dawn. 25,000 men marching toward my castle. I have 3,000. Advisors say stay inside, wait for death. I put on armor, danced the Atsumori, rode into the rain. Life is fifty years. I was twenty-six. Maybe twenty-four years left, maybe twenty-four minutes. Either way, not spending them behind walls. We hit their camp in the storm. Their general died with sake on his breath. You have something in front of you that looks too big. It is not. Move now.