The first of the three great historical unifiers of Japan, followed by Hideyoshi and Tokugawa, born into a noble family near Nagoya, EC japan. He became a general, and was invited by the emperor to establish order in the old capital, Kyoto (1568), destroying the power of the Buddhist Church, and favouring Christianity as a counter-balance. He built Azuchi Castle, near Kyoto, as his headquarters. He was assassinated by one of his own generals, in Kyoto.
| Oda Nobunaga | |
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| June 23, 1534–June 21, 1582 | |
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Oda Nobunaga |
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| Place of birth | Shobata Castle, Owari Province |
| Place of death | Honnō-ji, Kyoto |
| Campaigns of Oda Nobunaga |
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| Okehazama - Azukizaka - Chōkōji - Kanagasaki - Anegawa - Ishiyama Hongan-ji - Mount Hiei - Nagashima - Mikata ga Hara - Hikida - Odani - Ichijō ga dani - Itami - Nagashino - Mitsuji - Kizugawaguchi - Shigisan - Tedorigawa - Hijiyama - Temmokuzan - Uzu - Honnōji |
Oda Nobunaga (織田 信長 Oda Nobunaga (help·info), June 23, 1534–June 21, 1582) was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering most of Japan before his untimely death in 1582.
Life
Unification of Owari Province
In 1551, Oda Nobuhide died unexpectedly, and during his funeral, Nobunaga was said to have acted outrageously, throwing the ceremonial incense at the altar. This act further alienated many Oda retainers, convincing them of Nobunaga's supposed mediocrity and lack of discipline, and they began to side with his more soft-spoken and well-mannered brother, Nobuyuki.
Ashamed for Nobunaga's behavior, Hirate Masahide committed seppuku.
Though Nobunaga was recognized as Nobuhide's legitimate successor, the Oda clan was divided into many factions, and even then, the entire clan was technically under Owari's true kanrei, Shiba Yoshimune. Thus, Oda Nobutomo, being Owari's deputy shugo with the powerless Shiba as his puppet, was able to challenge Nobunaga's place as Owari's new master.
Nobunaga successfully persuaded Oda Nobumitsu, a younger brother of Nobuhide, to join his side, however, and with Nobumitsu's help, Nobutomo was slain in Kiyosu Castle, which later became Nobunaga's place of residence for over ten years. Taking advantage of Yoshimune's son Shiba Yoshikane's position as the rightful kanrei, Nobunaga forged an alliance with the Imagawa clan of Suruga province and the Kira clan of Mikawa province, as both clans were also kanrei and would have no excuse to decline.
Even though Nobuyuki and his supporters were still at large, Nobunaga led an army to Mino province to aid Saito Dosan, when his son, Saito Yoshitatsu, turned against him.
A few months later, Nobuyuki, with the support of Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada, rebelled against Nobunaga. Informed by Shibata Katsuie, Nobunaga faked illness and assassinated Nobuyuki in Kiyosu Castle.
By 1559, Nobunaga had already eliminated all opposition within the clan as well as Owari province. He continued to use Shiba Yoshikane as an excuse to make peace with other daimyo, although it was later discovered that Yoshikane secretly corresponded with the Kira and Imagawa clans, trying to oust Nobunaga and restore the Shiba clan's place. Nobunaga cast him out, and alliances made in the Shiba clan's name thus became void.
Battle of Okehazama
In 1560, Imagawa Yoshimoto gathered an army of 20,000 to 40,000 men and started his march toward Kyoto, with the excuse of aiding the frail Ashikaga shogunate.
In comparison, the Oda clan could barely rally an army of 5,000, and the forces would also have to be split up to defend various forts at the border. In 1561, an alliance was forged between Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Motoyasu (later Tokugawa Ieyasu), despite the decades-old hostility between the two clans. Taking advantage of this situation, Nobunaga moved his base to Komaki Castle and started his campaign in Mino.
By convincing Saito retainers to abandon their incompetent and foolish master, Nobunaga weakened the Saito clan significantly, eventually mounting a final attack in 1567. Nobunaga captured Inabayama Castle and sent Saito Tatsuoki into exile.
Oda Nobunaga then moved into Inabayama, and renamed his new castle as well as the city to Gifu. Naming it after the legendary Mount Gi in China (Qi in Standard Mandarin), on which the Zhou dynasty started, Nobunaga revealed his ambition to conquer the whole of Japan.
In 1564, Nobunaga had his sister, Oichi marry Azai Nagamasa, a daimyo in northern Omi province.
In 1568, the last Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki went to Gifu, requesting that Nobunaga start a campaign toward Kyoto.
Nobunaga agreed to Yoshiaki's request, grasping the opportunity to enter Kyoto, and started his campaign. Nobunaga launched a rapid attack, driving the Rokkaku clan out of their castles.
Within a short amount of time, Nobunaga had reached Kyoto and driven the Miyoshi clan out of the city.
Nobunaga refused the post of Kanrei, and eventually began to restrict the powers of the shogun, making it clear that he intended to use him as a puppet to justify his future conquests.
The Asakura clan, in particular, was disdainful of the Oda clan's rising power. thus, the Asakura clan despised Nobunaga the most for his success.
When Nobunaga launched a campaign into the Asakura clan's domain, Azai Nagamasa, to whom Oichi was married, broke the alliance with Oda to honour the Azai-Asakura alliance which had lasted for generations.
At the Battle of Anegawa, Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the combined forces of the Asakura and Azai clans.
Nobunaga waged war even against Buddhists when they did not obey him.
Through the years, Nobunaga was able to consolidate his position and conquer his enemies through brutality.
At the height of the anti-Nobunaga alliance, Takeda Shingen was convinced that he should rise against the Oda clan. Tied down in perpetual warfare, Nobunaga sent lacklustre aid to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who suffered defeat at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1572.
Nobunaga defeated Yoshiaki's weak forces and sent him into exile, bringing the Ashikaga shogunate to an end in the same year.
Still in the same year, Nobunaga successfully destroyed the Asakura and Azai clans, and Azai Nagamasa sent Oichi back to Nobunaga as he committed suicide. With Nagashima's destruction in 1574, the only threat to Nobunaga was the Takeda clan, now led by Takeda Katsuyori.
At the decisive Battle of Nagashino, the combined forces of Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu devastated the Takeda clan with the strategic use of arquebuses.
Nobunaga continued his expansion, sending Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie to the north and Akechi Mitsuhide to Tamba province.
The Oda clan's siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji in Osaka still had little progress, but the Mori clan of Chūgoku region started sending supplies into the strongly-fortified complex by sea, breaking the naval blockade.
However, in the same year, Uesugi Kenshin, who was said to be the only military commander to have beaten Takeda Shingen in battle, started his march toward the Oda domain as well.
Nobunaga forced the Ishiyama Hongan-ji to surrender in 1580 and destroyed the Takeda clan in 1582.
Incident at Honnōji
In 1582, Hashiba Hideyoshi (one of Nobunaga's most trusted retainers) invaded Bitchu province, laying siege to Takamatsu Castle. Hashiba asked for reinforcements from Oda Nobunaga.
It has often been argued that Hideyoshi in fact had no need for reinforcements, but asked Nobunaga anyway for various reasons. Some believe that Hideyoshi, envied and hated by fellow generals for his swift rise from a lowly footman to a top general under Oda Nobunaga, wanted to give the credit for taking Takamatsu to Nobunaga so as to humble himself in front of other Oda vassals.
In any case, Nobunaga ordered Niwa Nagahide to prepare for an invasion of Shikoku and Akechi Mitsuhide to assist Hideyoshi.
Nevertheless, Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly had Honnōji surrounded in a coup, forcing Oda Nobunaga to commit suicide. At the same time, Akechi forces assaulted Nijo Castle, and Oda Nobunaga killed himself after sending the kōtaishi away.
Policies
Militarily, Oda's revolutionary dreaming not only changed the way war was fought in Japan, but also in turn made one of the most modernized forces in the world at that time.
Oda's dominance and brilliance was not restricted to the battlefield, for he also was a keen businessman and understood the principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics.
Oda also instituted rakuichi rakuza policies as a way to stimulate business and the overall economy.
As Oda conquered Japan and amassed a great amount of wealth, he progressively supported the arts for which he always had an interest, but which he later and gradually more importantly used as a display of his power and prestige.
Oda is remembered in Japan as one of the most brutal figures of the Sengoku period. These unifiers were (in order) Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (also called Hashiba Hideyoshi above) and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Oda Nobunaga was well on his way to the complete conquest and unification of Japan when Akechi Mitsuhide, one of his generals, forced Oda into committing suicide in Honnō-ji in Kyoto.
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