麻豆APP

OdaNobunagaCrest-by ELRiK-

Top 10 Facts about Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga was born on 23rd June 1554,in Nagoya,Owari Province.He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide and his wife Dola Gozen.

He was known as ‘Owari no Otsuke'(Fools of Owari)a Japanese ‘daimyo’ and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period.

His action in the war gave him the nickname ‘Oni Daimyo'(Demon King)and is regarded as the first ‘Great unifier’ of Japan.

He was the head of the very powerful Oda clan, who conquered most of Honshu island by the 1580s. He not only innovated military tactics, reformed Japan’s civil government, and fostering of free trade.

He started the Momoyama historical art period but also the brutal crushing of those who failed to cooperate or yield to his demands.

Nobunaga died in 1582 after he was ambushed by his retainer Aketchi Mitsuhide where he was succeded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi who later united Japan in 1951. Here are 10 facts about Oda Nobunaga.

1. Nobunaga was given the childhood name of Kipposhi

Statue of Oda Nobuhide at Bansh艒-Ji-by Unknown author-

Nobunaga was born in Nagoya castle the future seat of Owari Domain, where his father was the head of the powerful Oda Clan and a deputy shugo(military governor). He was given the childhood name Kipposhi.

Through his childhood and early teenage years, he became well known for his unusual behavior and people named him ‘Owari no Otsuke'(The fool of Owari). He was known to run around with other youths in the locality without considering his own rank in society.

2. He brutally suppressed those who failed to cooperate or yield to his demands

After his father’s unexpected death in 1551, although Nobunaga was Nobuhide’s legitimate son, a succession crisis occurred when some of the oda clan members opposed him. Nobunaga silenced the hostile family and allies with an aid of 1000 men.

One of his father’s senior retainers defected to the Imagawa clan and Nobunaga tried to attack him but was pushed back by Noriyoshi in the battle of Akatsuka.

In 1994, during the battle of Muraki castle, he captured his uncle, Oda Nobutumo, and forced him to commit suicide for plotting to assassinate him.

3. His uncle plotted an assassination against him

In 1552, Oda Nobutomo, Nobuhides’s young brother took over Kiyosu castle with the support of Shiba Yoshimune, the official governor of Owari province.

Yoshimune informed Nobunaga of the plot to assassinate him and Oda Nobutomo ordered the killing of Yoshimune after the betrayal.

Nobunaga prepared his forces to retake Kiyosu castle and laid siege to the castle awaiting an opportunity to attack.

In 1994, during the battle of Muraki castle against the Imagawa clan, he turned his attention back to the siege of Kiyosu where he captured his uncle and forced him to commit suicide.

4. He became the head of the Oda Clan in 1559

Map of Oda clan 1582-by Alvin Lee-

In 1556, Nobunaga defeated his main rival as the head of the Oda clan, his younger brother Oda Nobuyuki, at the battle of Ino. Nobuyuki survived the battle and began plotting a second rebellion.

At the time Nobunaga was helping his father-in-law Saito Dosan in Mino Province after his son Saito Yoshitatsu turned against him. The campaign failed when Dosan was killed making Yoshitatsu the new master of Mino.

Nobuyuki began his second rebellion in 1557 but was defeated and in 1558 during the siege of Terabe, Nobunaga had sent his army to protect Suzuki Shigeteru lord of Terabe.

Nobuyuki started again but he was condemned by one of Nobunaga’s retainers and killed on November 2nd, 1558. By 1559, Nobunaga had eliminated all opposition within the Oda clan and established his uncontested rule in Owari Province.

5. In 1560, he defeated his father’s long-time opponent Imagawa Yoshimoto

Imagawa Yashimoto, a long-time opponent of Nobunaga’s father sought to expand his kingdom into oda territory in Owari when he overrule the border fortress and took the Marine forces.

At the time had an army of only 2000-3000men while Imagawa had 25,000men. Some of Nobunaga’s advisors suggested that he take refuge from Kiyosu castle but he refused.

He calmly ordered a counterattack against Yashimoto.In 1560, Nobunaga forces marched to the Atsusa shrine where they did an ambush attack after a terrific thunderstorm.

Yashimoto was killed by two Oda Samurai and Nobunaga won his victory where many Samurai and warlords pledged loyalty to him.

6. Nobunaga defeated the Ikko-Ikki rebels in the 1580s

Road to the village of Ikko Ikki-by-Aratsk–

He faced a significant threat from the Ikko-Ikki, a resistance movement centered around the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism. The Ikko-Ikki was the major organized armed force opposed to Samurai rule in Japan by the time of Nobunaga’s rise to power.

In August 1570, Nobunaga launched a war against Ishimaya Hongan-Ji, the Ikko-Ikki while still fighting against his Samurai rivals. His siege of Ishimsya Hongan-Ji began to slowly make progress.

In 1580, ten years later he captured Hongan-Ji and expelled them from Osaka, and burnt their fortress to the ground after their supplies were exhausted.

Although the Ikko-Ikki continued to make a last stand in Kaga province, Nobunaga’s capture of Ishimaya Hongan-Ji crippled them as a major military force.

7. Nobunaga is regarded as the first great unifier of Japan

Six fold screen of The Battle of Nagashino-by Unknown-

In 1567, Nobunaga conquered the Mino province against Saito Tatsuoki and renamed it Gifu castle. He broke the Za or monopolistic trade organizations for merchants to buy and sell freely.

He also reduced taxes, improved roads, and abolished of toll barriers which brought prosperity to kano.

In 1568, he entered Kyoto and installed Ashikaga Yoshiaki as a shogun using a seal with the phrase ‘tenta fubu’, indicating his own intention to Unite the kingdom of japan by force.

He expanded his power under the Muromachi shogunate. Yoshiaki tried to overthrow him but Nobunaga had talented deputies like Hashiba(Toyotomi), Hideyoshi, and Aketchi Mitsuhide.

They helped him conquer the warrior monks at Enryakuji and burnt their complex down. In 1952, he brought an end to Muromachi shogunate by sending Yoshiaki to exile.  In 1575, he allied with Ieyasu to fight Takeda Katsuyori(son of Shingeni) at the battle of Nagashima.

He used a large number of musketeers to overpower the Takeda army and in 1580, he finally won his 10-year battle with Ishiyama Hongan-Ji and the Takeda family in Kai.

By 1582, he was just a few years away from achieving his ambition of uniting Japan when he died.

8. He was betrayed and killed by one of his deputies

In the spring of 1582, on 21st June in an event known as the Hannoji incident after the temple near Kyoto where Hannoji stayed, his deputy Aketchi Mitsuhude launched a surprise attack on him.

He then forced him to commit suicide. Mitsuhide took over but was defeated by Hideyoshi Nobunaga’s retainer at the battle of Yamazaki who united with Leyasu to unite Japan.

9. Nobunaga did a political marriage

In 1549, Nobuhide(Nobunagas’s father)made peace with Saito Dosan by arranging a political marriage between his son and Saito Dosans daughter.

10. He made use of guns(The Europen-style Muskets)

Portable fire-arms of olden time – 16th-century musket-by Unknown artist-

In 1575 at the battle of Nagashima, he used a large number of musketeers resulting in the overpowering of the Takeda army which went down in Japanese history.

That transformed the image of the musket from a useless weapon to a powerful gun. From that point, it played a major role in the battle of the period.

Oda Nobunaga a Japanese warrior and government official played a major role in ending a long period of feudal wars by unifying half of the provinces in Japan under his rule.