Oda Udaijin Taira no Nobunaga in Flames at the Temple Honnōji 1878

Here is a woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, depicting Oda Nobunaga engulfed in flames at the Honnōji Temple. The temple ablaze, a furious scene symbolizing destruction and the end of an era. Note the striking detail of the flames licking upwards. Fire, the ancient purifier, the destroyer, the bringer of change. This primal force resonates across cultures—from the Greek myth of Prometheus, who stole fire for humanity, to the fiery depictions of hell in Christian art. Here, the fire devours not just a building, but Nobunaga himself. Fire becomes a symbol of purification and destruction, embodying the transient nature of power. The collective memory of such events is potent. We are drawn to these images of cataclysm, perhaps as a cathartic release, a way to confront our own anxieties about mortality and the impermanence of existence. The flames may have consumed Nobunaga, but the symbol of fire persists, ever-changing, ever-present in our collective consciousness.