Naoe's House

Naoe's House was the former home of Fujibayashi Naoe and her father Nagato, situated within the eastern part of the Mibuno Vale region in Iga Province, Japan.

History[edit | edit source]

Naoe and Nagato had lived in the home until Oda Nobunaga's invasion of Iga on 30 September 1581.^[1] The house was heavily damaged as a result of the fighting, and after the invasion, the Fujibayashi family's neighbors considered rebuilding the house but eventually abstained so that it served as a reminder of the war. Matsu, a family friend of Naoe and Nagato, spent time sleeping on a futon in the ruined house in the hopes that both father and daughter would return.^[2]

By June 1582, Matsu began to lose hope and subsequently wrote a final letter addressed to Naoe, hoping that she would still be alive and able to read it some day. The elderly woman then embarked on a journey to the mountains in the south, where she hoped to retire and spend her final days. As Matsu had wished, Naoe eventually returned to her former house and found Matsu's letter shortly after she had departed. Naoe then quickly left the house to find and reunite with her "auntie".^[2]

In 1585, after Naoe freed her mother Tsuyu from Awaji and returned the Imperial Regalia of Japan to Emperor Ōgimachi,^[3] Tsuyu returned to Iga and began rebuilding her old home. When Naoe and Yasuke came to visit her, the work was nearly finished.^[4]