Chapter 20: "Super-Rationalism⁉️ The Daimyo 'Ukita Naoie' Who Rose to Power with a Focus on Cost-Performance‼️"

A "super-rationalist" warlord who climbed up from the bottom.

Naoie is often counted among the "three great villains of the Sengoku period" and may carry a cold, ruthless image of someone who stops at nothing to achieve his goals. However, behind this lay a harrowing past of family decline. Following his grandfather's suicide and his father's flight, Naoie was forced into a life of wandering at a young age. His process of rising to become a daimyo was steeped in a surprising "cost-performance" mindset that remains relevant even today.

An encounter with a wealthy merchant changed Naoie's destiny.

It was a great merchant named Abe Zensada who saved Naoie when he was cast out and destitute. Zensada's foresight in treating Naoie's education not as mere charity, but as an "investment" with an eye toward future interests, is truly astounding. Instilled with the instincts of a merchant, Naoie grew into a rare warlord who possessed not only military strength but also diplomatic and economic perspectives.

The truth about the man who built Okayama is revealed.

While Naoie is said to have laid the foundations for modern-day Okayama, his rise was actually entangled with complex human relationships. This episode is packed with human-centric stories not found in textbooks, such as the surprising private life of his father, Okiie, and his bonds with his half-siblings. What was the ruthless method chosen by a man who pursued pure rationalism? Please check the full episode for the truth.