Oda Nobunaga (織田 信長)

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Oda Nobutaka

Hashiba Hidekatsu

Oda Katsunaga

Tokuhime

Oda Nobunaga (織田 信長, 23 June 1534 – 21 June 1582) was a Japanese daimyō of the Sengoku period regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan.

## Biography

Nobunaga was head of the powerful Oda clan of Owari Province and launched a war against other samurai to unify Japan in the 1560s. Nobunaga emerged as the most powerful daimyō in Japan, overthrowing the nominally ruling shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and dissolved the Ashikaga Shogunate in 1573, conquering most of Honshu and defeating the Ikkō-ikki rebels by the 1580s. Nobunaga's rule was noted for innovative military tactics, fostering free trade, reform of Japan's civil administration, and encouraging the start of the Momoyama historical art period, but also the brutal suppression of opponents, eliminating those who refused to cooperate or yield to his demands. Nobunaga was killed in the Honno-ji Incident in 1582 when his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide ambushed him in Kyoto and compelled to forced suicide. Nobunaga was succeeded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi who completed his war of unification shortly afterwards.

Nobunaga was an influential figure in Japanese history and is regarded as one of three great unifiers along with his retainers Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Nobunaga initiated the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japan partially named after his castle, Azuchi Castle, which led to the end of the Sengoku period and eventual transition to the Edo period.

## Historical context

The goal of national unification and a return to the comparative political stability of the earlier Muromachi period was widely shared by the multitude of autonomous daimyōs during the Sengoku period. Oda Nobunaga was the first for whom this goal seemed attainable. Nobunaga had gained control over most of Honshu (see map below) before his death during the 1582 Honnō-ji incident, a coup attempt executed by Nobunaga's vassal, Akechi Mitsuhide. Nobunaga was betrayed by his own retainers who set the Honno-Ji temple on fire; then, instead of burning in flames, Oda Nobunaga had committed seppuku to escape the flames. The motivation behind Mitsuhide's betrayal was never revealed to anyone who survived the incident, and has been a subject of debate and conjecture ever since the incident.

Following the incident, Mitsuhide declared himself master over Nobunaga's domains, but was quickly defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who regained control of and greatly expanded the Oda holdings. Nobunaga's successful subjugation of much of Honshu enabled the later successes of his allies Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu toward the goal of national unification by subjugating local daimyōs under a hereditary shogunate, which was ultimately accomplished in 1603 when Ieyasu was granted the title of shōgun by Emperor Go-Yōzei following the successful Sekigahara Campaign of 1600. The nature of the succession of power through the three daimyōs is reflected in a well-known Japanese idiom:

> "*Nobunaga pounds the national rice cake, Hideyoshi kneads it, and in the end, Ieyasu sits down and eats it.*"
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All three were born within eight years of each other (1534 to 1542), started their careers as samurai and finished them as statesmen. Nobunaga inherited his father's domain at the age of 17, and quickly gained control of Owari province through gekokujo. Hideyoshi started his career in Nobunaga's army as an ashigaru, but quickly rose up through the ranks as a samurai. Ieyasu initially fought against Nobunaga as the heir of a rival daimyo, but later expanded his own inheritance through a profitable alliance with Nobunaga.

## Early life

Oda Nobunaga was born on 23 June 1534 in Nagoya, Owari Province, the second son of Oda Nobuhide, the head of the powerful Oda clan and a deputy shugo (military governor) with land holdings in Owari. Nobunaga is said to have been born in Nagoya Castle, the future seat of the Owari Domain, although this is subject to debate. Nobunaga was given the childhood name of Kippōshi (吉法師), and through his childhood and early teenage years became well known for his bizarre behavior, receiving the name of Owari no Ōutsuke (尾張の大うつけ, The Great Fool of Owari). Nobunaga was known to run around with other youths from the area, without any regard to his own rank in society, and with the introduction of firearms into Japan he became known for his fondness for tanegashima guns.

## Unification of Owari Province

### Succession dispute

In 1551, Oda Nobuhide died unexpectedly, and Nobunaga was said to have acted outrageously during his funeral, throwing ceremonial incense at the altar. Although Nobunaga was Nobuhide's legitimate heir, a succession crisis occurred when some of the Oda clan were divided against him. Hirate Masahide, a valuable mentor and retainer to Nobunaga, performed seppuku to startle Nobunaga into his obligations. Nobunaga, collecting about a thousand men, suppressed members of his family who were hostile to his rule and their allies.

### Elimination of Nobuyuki

Nobunaga's main rival as head of the Oda clan was his younger brother, Oda Nobuyuki. In 1555, Nobunaga defeated Nobuyuki at Battle of Ino, though Nobuyuki survived and began plotting a second rebellion. In 1556, Nobunaga destroyed a rival branch of the Oda clan located in Kiyosu Castle. Nobunaga took an army to Mino Province to aid Saitō Dōsan after Dōsan's son, Saitō Yoshitatsu, turned against him. The campaign failed, as Dōsan was killed in the Battle of Nagara-gawa, and Yoshitatsu became the new master of Mino in 1556. In 1557, Nobuyuki was defeated by Nobunaga's retainer Ikeda Nobuteru in the Siege of Suemori (1557), killing Nobuyuki and destroying Suemori Castle.

In 1558, Nobunaga protected Suzuki Shigeteru in the Siege of Terabe. Shigeteru had defected to Nobunaga's side from Imagawa Yoshimoto, a daimyō from Suruga Province and one of the most powerful men in the Tōkaidō region. Yoshimoto was a long-time opponent of Nobunaga's father, and had sought to expand his domain into Oda territory in Owari.

By 1559, Nobunaga had eliminated all opposition within the Oda clan and established his uncontested rule in Owari Province.

## Rise to power

### Battle of Okehazama

In 1560, Imagawa Yoshimoto gathered an army of 25,000 men and started his march toward the capital city of Kyoto, with the pretext of aiding the frail Ashikaga Shogunate. The Matsudaira clan of Mikawa Province also joined Yoshimoto's forces. Against this, the Oda clan could rally an army of only 2,000 to 3,000 men. Advisers suggested "to stand a siege at Kiyosu" but Nobunaga refused, stating that "only a strong offensive policy could make up for the superior numbers of the enemy", and calmly ordered a counterattack against Yoshimoto.

Nobunaga's scouts reported that Yoshimoto was resting at the narrow gorge of Dengaku-hazama, ideal for a surprise attack, and that the Imagawa army was celebrating their victories while Yoshimoto viewed the heads. Nobunaga moved towards Imagawa's camp and set up a position some distance away. An array of flags and dummy troops made of straw and spare helmets gave the impression of a large host, while the real Oda army hurried round in a rapid march to get behind Yoshimoto's camp. The heat gave way to a terrific thunderstorm, and as the Imagawa samurai sheltered from the rain, Nobunaga deployed his troops. When the storm ceased, they charged down upon the enemy in the gorge, so suddenly that Yoshimoto thought a brawl had broken out among his men, only realizing it was an attack when two of Nobunaga's samurais, Mōri Shinsuke and Hattori Koheita, charged up at him. One aimed a spear at him, which Yoshimoto deflected with his sword, but the second swung his blade and decapitated him.

Rapidly weakening in the wake of this battle, the Imagawa clan no longer exerted control over the Matsudaira clan. In 1561, an alliance was forged between Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Motoyasu (who would become Tokugawa Ieyasu), despite the decades-old hostility between the two clans. Nobunaga also formed an alliance with Takeda Shingen through the marriage of his daughter to Shingen's son. A similar relationship was forged when Nobunaga's sister Oichi married Azai Nagamasa of Ōmi Province.

Tradition dates this battle as the first time that Nobunaga noticed the talents of the sandal-bearer who would eventually become Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

### Siege of Inabayama Castle

In 1561, Saitō Yoshitatsu, the anti-Nobunaga ruler of Mino, died suddenly of illness and was succeeded by his son, Saitō Tatsuoki. However, Tatsuoki was young and much less effective as a ruler and military strategist compared to his father and grandfather. Taking advantage of this situation, Nobunaga moved his base to Komaki Castle and started his campaign in Mino at the Battle of Moribe in 1561 . By convincing Saitō retainers to abandon their incompetent and foolish master, Nobunaga significantly weakened the Saitō clan, eventually mounting a victorious final attack at the Siege of Inabayama Castle in 1567. After taking possession of the castle, Nobunaga changed the name of both Inabayama Castle and the surrounding town to Gifu. Nobunaga derived the term Gifu from the legendary Mount Qi (岐山 Qi in Standard Chinese) in China, on which the Zhou dynasty is fabled to have started. Nobunaga revealed his ambition to conquer the whole of Japan, and also started using a new personal seal that read Tenka Fubu (天下布武), which means "All the world by force of arms" or "Rule the Empire by Force". Remains of Nobunaga's residence in Gifu can be found today in Gifu Park.

### Campaign in Kyoto

In 1568, Ashikaga Yoshiaki went to Gifu to ask Nobunaga to start a campaign toward Kyoto. Yoshiaki was the brother of the murdered 13th shōgun of the Ashikaga Shogunate, Yoshiteru, and wanted revenge against the killers who had already set up a puppet shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshihide. Nobunaga agreed to install Yoshiaki as the new shōgun and, grasping the opportunity to enter Kyoto, started his campaign. An obstacle in southern Ōmi Province was the Rokkaku clan, led by Rokkaku Yoshikata, which refused to recognize Yoshiaki as shōgun and was ready to go to war to defend Yoshihide. In response, Nobunaga launched a rapid attack, driving the Rokkaku clan out of their castles.

On 9 November 1568, Nobunaga entered Kyoto and installed Yoshiaki as the 15th shōgun of the Ashikaga Shogunate. However, Nobunaga refused any appointment from Yoshiaki, and their relationship grew difficult, though Nobunaga showed the Emperor Ōgimachi great respect.

## Campaign against rival daimyōs

### Battle of Anegawa

The Asakura clan was particularly disdainful of the Oda clan's increasing power in Japan. Furthermore, Asakura Yoshikage had also protected Ashikaga Yoshiaki, but had not been willing to march toward Kyoto. When Nobunaga launched a campaign into the Asakura clan's domain, Azai Nagamasa, to whom Nobunaga's sister Oichi was married, broke the alliance with Oda to honor the Azai-Asakura alliance which had lasted for generations. With the help of allied Ikko rebels, the anti-Nobunaga alliance sprang into full force, taking a heavy toll on the Oda clan. At the Battle of Anegawa, Tokugawa Ieyasu joined forces with Nobunaga and defeated the combined forces of the Asakura and Azai clans.

The Enryaku-ji monastery on Mt. Hiei, with its sōhei (warrior monks) of the Tendai school who aided the anti-Nobunaga group by helping Azai-Asakura alliance, was an issue for Nobunaga since the monastery was so close to his base of power. In September 1571, Nobunaga preemptively attacked Enryaku-ji and razed it in the Siege of Mount Hiei, in the process killing "monks, laymen, women and children" and "The whole mountainside was a great slaughterhouse, and the sight was one of unbearable horror."

### Siege of Nagashima and Ishiyama Hongan-ji

Nobunaga faced a significant threat from the Ikkō-ikki, a resistance movement centered around the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism. The Ikkō-ikki began as a religious association for self-defence, but popular antipathy against the samurai from the constant violence of the Sengoku period caused their numbers to swell. By the time of Nobunaga's rise to power, the Ikkō-ikki was a major organized armed force opposed to samurai rule in Japan. In August 1570, Nobunaga began a campaign against the Ikkō-ikki while fighting against his samurai rivals. In May 1571, Nobunaga besieged Nagashima, a series of Ikkō-ikki fortifications in Owari Province, beginning the Sieges of Nagashima. Nobunaga's first siege was a definite failure, as his trusted general Shibata Katsuie was severely wounded and many of his samurai were lost before retreating. Despite this defeat, Nobunaga was inspired to launch another siege after the success of the Siege of Mount Hiei. In July 1573, Nobunaga besieged Nagashima for a second time, this time personally leading a sizeable force with many arquebusiers. However, a rainstorm rendered his arquebusiers unable to fire their weapons while the Ikkō-ikki's own arquebusiers could fire from covered positions. Nobunaga himself was almost killed and forced to retreat, with the second siege being considered his greatest defeat. In 1574, Nobunaga launched a third siege as his general Kuki Yoshitaka began a naval blockade and bombardment of Nagashima, allowing him to capture the outer forts of Nakae and Yanagashima as well as part of the Nagashima complex. The Sieges of Nagashima finally ended when Nobunaga's men completely surrounded the complex and setting fire to it, killing the remaining tens of thousands of defenders and inflicting tremendous losses to the Ikkō-ikki.

Simultaneously, Nobunaga had been besieging the Ikkō-ikki's main stronghold at Ishiyama Hongan-ji in present-day Osaka. Nobunaga's Siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji began to slowly make some progress, but the Mori clan of the Chūgoku region broke his naval blockade and started sending supplies into the strongly fortified complex by sea. As a result, in 1577, Hashiba Hideyoshi was ordered by Nobunaga to confront the warrior monks at the Siege of Negoroji, and Nobunaga eventually blocked the Mori's supply lines. In 1580, ten years after the siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji began, the son of Chief Abbot Kōsa surrendered the fortress to Nobunaga after their supplies were exhausted, and they received an official request from the Emperor to do so. Nobunaga spared the lives of Ishiyama Hongan-ji's defenders, but expelled them from Osaka and burnt the fortress to the ground. Although the Ikkō-ikki continued to make a last stand in Kaga Province, Nobunaga's capture of Ishiyama Hongan-ji crippled them as a major militant force.

### Battle of Nagashino

One of the strongest rulers in the anti-Nobunaga alliance was Takeda Shingen, in spite of his generally peaceful relationship and a nominal alliance with the Oda clan. In 1572, Shingen decided to make a drive for Kyoto at the urgings of the shōgun Yoshiaki, starting with invading Tokugawa territory . Nobunaga, tied down on the western front, sent lackluster aid to Tokugawa Ieyasu who suffered defeat at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573. However, after the battle, Tokugawa's forces launched night raids and convinced Takeda of an imminent counter-attack, thus saving the vulnerable Tokugawa with the bluff. This would play a pivotal role in Tokugawa's philosophy of strategic patience in his campaigns with Nobunaga. Shortly thereafter, the Takeda forces were neutralized after Shingen died from throat cancer in April 1573. This was a relief for Nobunaga because he could now focus on Yoshiaki, who had openly declared hostility more than once, despite the Imperial Court's intervention. Nobunaga was able to defeat Yoshiaki's forces and send him into exile, bringing the Ashikaga Shogunate to an end in 1573. That same year, Nobunaga successfully destroyed Asakura and Asai by driving them both to suicide.

The combined forces of Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu devastated the Takeda clan with the strategic use of arquebuses at the decisive battle in Nagashino, Mikawa Province. Nobunaga compensated for the arquebus's slow reloading time by arranging the arquebusiers in three lines, firing in rotation. From there, Nobunaga continued his expansion, sending Akechi Mitsuhide to pacify Tanba Province before advancing upon the Mori in Nagato Province. However, Uesugi Kenshin, the rival of both the Takeda and Oda, clashed with Nobunaga during the Battle of Tedorigawa in Kaga Province in November 1577. The result was a decisive Uesugi victory, and Nobunaga considered ceding the northern provinces to Kenshin, but his sudden death in early 1578 caused a succession crisis that ended the Uesugi's movement south.

## Death

By 1582, Nobunaga was at the height of his power and, as the most powerful warlord, the de facto leader of Japan. Nobunaga acquired many official titles, including Gondainagon and Ukon'etaishō in 1574, and Minister of the Right (Udaijin) in 1576. Nobunaga and Ieyasu finally defeated the Takeda at the Battle of Tenmokuzan, destroying the clan and resulting in Takeda Katsuyori fleeing from the battle before committing suicide with his wife while being pursued by Oda forces. By this point, Nobunaga was preparing to launch invasions into Echigo Province and Shikoku.[citation needed] Nobunaga's former sandal bearer, Hashiba Hideyoshi, invaded Bitchū Province and laid siege to Takamatsu Castle. The castle was vital to the Mori clan, and losing it would have left the Mori's home domain vulnerable. Mori reinforcements led by Mōri Terumoto arrived to relieve the siege, prompting Hideyoshi to ask for reinforcements from Nobunaga, who promptly ordered his leading generals to prepare their armies, with the overall expedition to be led by Nobunaga. Nobunaga left Azuchi Castle for Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto he frequented when visiting the city, where he was to hold a tea ceremony. Hence, Nobunaga only had 30 pages with him, while his son Oda Nobutada had brought 2000 of his cavalrymen.

Akechi Mitsuhide, stationed in the Chūgoku region, decided to assassinate Nobunaga for unknown reasons, and the cause of his betrayal is controversial. Mitsuhide, aware that Nobunaga was nearby and unprotected for his tea ceremony, saw an opportunity to act. Mitsuhide led his army toward Kyoto under the pretense of following the order of Nobunaga, but as they were crossing Katsura River, Mitsuhide announced to his troops that "The enemy awaits at Honnō-ji!" (敵は本能寺にあり, Teki wa Honnō-ji ni ari). On 21 June 1582, before dawn, the Akechi army surrounded the Honnō-ji temple with Nobunaga present, while another unit of Akechi troops were sent to Myōkaku-ji in a coup. Although Nobunaga and his servants resisted the unexpected intrusion, they were soon overwhelmed. As the Akechi troops closed in, Nobunaga decided to commit seppuku in one of the inner rooms. Reportedly his last words were, "Ran, don't let them come in ..." referring to his young page, Mori Ranmaru, who set the temple on fire as Nobunaga requested so that no one would be able to get his decapitated head. Ranmaru then followed his lord, with his loyalty and devotion makes him a revered figure in Japanese history. Nobunaga's remains were never found, a fact often speculated about by writers and historians. After capturing Honnō-ji, Mitsuhide attacked Nobutada, eldest son and heir of Nobunaga, who also committed suicide.

Nobunaga was succeeded by his retainer Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who subsequently abandoned his campaign against the Mōri clan to pursue Mitsuhide to avenge his beloved lord. Hideyoshi's intercepted one of Mitsuhide's messengers trying to deliver a letter to the Mōri requesting to form an alliance against the Oda after informing them of Nobunaga's death. Hideyoshi managed to pacify the Mōri by demanding the suicide of Shimizu Muneharu in exchange ending his siege of Takamatsu Castle, which the Mōri accepted. Mitsuhide failed to establish his position after Nobunaga's death and Hideyoshi defeated his army at the Battle of Yamazaki in July, but Mitsuhide was murdered by bandits while fleeing after the battle. Hideyoshi continued and completed Nobunaga's conquest of Japan within the following decade.

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