The History of~The Sengoku Jidai (Page 4: Nobunaga's Ambition)

The history of Japan is soaked in the blood of some of the most toughest and most daring warriors during it's over 100,000 year history, and that history is known as the "Sengoku Jidai" (period of Warring States).

This is Part 4 of this 6-Page wiki series as in this page we will talk about the first of Japan's greatest warlords; Nobunaga Oda and his battles.

## Latter Part of the 16th Century

By the latter part of the 16th Century, the Sengoku Jidai was beginning to be more violent and spread throughout Japan. During this time, there will be 3 warlords that will come to the fore as Japan's greatest soldiers; Nobunaga Oda, Hideyoshi Tomoytomi, and Ieyasu Tokugawa. These 3 daimyo will be known in Japan as the "Great Unifiers", they will end the Sengoku Jidai and unify Japan into one state; one step, and one man at a time.

According to Japanese legend, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa are the 3 men who would make a "rice cake", and the rice cake is Japan as Nobunaga would "Harvest the rive to make the cake", Hideyoshi would "Kneed the cake" (as in putting it together), and Tokugawa would "Sit down and Eat it".

Japan's road to becoming a unified nation state began with Nobunaga (born into the Oda Clan in 1534), and after an inner squabble in the Oda Clan, he became a commanding general in 1556 as he would seize Kiyosu Castle.

Now, this page will only be an oversimplified version of Nobunaga's Battles, if you want to know more about his battles, click here.

## Nobunaga's Ambition

After Nobunaga became a commanding general of his clan's armies in 1556, he would have several battles against another huge, powerful clan known as the "Imagawa" when Nobunaga seized another castle called "Terabe" (this is also the first battle for a young Tokugawa), though the Imagawa would defeat Nobunaga at the "Siege of Murabe Castle". Nobunaga would win "round 3" of his fight against the Imagawas in 1560 when he won the "Battle of Okehazama" which also saw Nobunaga kill the clan's leader; Yoshimoto, and many of Yoshimoto's followers (including Ieyasu) decided to side with Nobunaga.

Nobunaga also seeked the Japanese province of "Mino", and because this belonged to the clan of "Saito" this would begin the 6-year war between the Oda and the Saito called the "Battle of Noribe", Nobunaga would eventually defeat the Satio and took Mino as well as convince the other clans that served the Saito to join Nobunaga's side.

Nobunaga is quickly becoming Japan's most powerful warlord, and when the current Ashikaga Shogun; Yoshiaki requested that Nobunaga to come to Kyoto (Japan's ancient capital) and help him fight against Yoshiaki's uncle; Yoshihide who murdered Yoshiaki's father; Yoshiteru. Nobunaga agreed to help Yoshiaki, first he had to deal with the "Rokkaku" clan, and after defeating them, and thus allowed Yoshiaki to retain the title of Shogun. Nobunaga's relationship with Yoshiaki began to deteriorate when Nobunaga refused attendance to any of Yoshiaki's meetings.

By the 1570s, Nobunaga would continue to grow his base of power, and after fighting and defeating his brother in law "Nagamasa Azai" (who was married to Nobunaga's sister; Oichi), he also found the Enryaku Temple which is on Mt. Hiei where it has Sohei Monks, Nobunaga's ruthless repuatation begins here as his forces killed everybody in the temple (including women, and children), after this, Nobunaga's name was then feared by everybody in Japan.

But, there was a group of people that didn't fear Nobunaga. They were a group of monks; the Ikko-Ikkis as in 1571 wanted to take Nagashima Castle, eventhough the Oda clan with their superior numbers and weapons would eventually take the castle and then burn it 3 years into the battle, but the Monks would cause problems for the Oda Clan as they took base in the "Ishiyama-Hongan" temple in Osaka. It wouldn't be until 1580 when the temple would fall to the Oda.

Nobunaga's most famous battle would be in 1575 with the "Battle of Nagashino" where Nobunaga's forces would use western firearms (Tanegashimas and canons) on a wide scale that was never seen before in Japanese warfare. In this battle, Nobunaga took advantage of a weakened Takeda Clan as its daimyo "Shingen" died from wounds he suffered from battle.

Though, Nobunaga would suffer a defeat by the Uesugi clan, but the defeat was temporary as the Clan's daimyo; "Kenshin" would also die, securing the Oda Clan's claims on their newly conquered domains.

## Betrayed and committing suicide

Nobunaga by the late 1570s became a very powerful warlord who has conquered nearly all of western Japan. But by the 1580s, his ambitions to dominate Japan would come to a halt as in 1582, he would discover that one of his most loyal generals; Mitsuhide Akechi would betray him. When Nobunaga was in Kyoto, he would go into the Honnoji Temple for a Tea Ceremony, this is where Mitsuhide would attack. As a trap, Nobunaga ordered his men to set the temple on fire. But Mitsuhide's forces would defeat Nobunaga's.

Eventually, Mitsuhide and Nobunaga would face off against each other in the burning temple, after a long and fierce battle, Mitsuhide would defeat Nobunaga and escape.

Knowing that he had lost, Nobunaga committed suicide either by committing seppuku or staying inside the burning Honnoji Temple and let the flames consume him (according to legend, and though precise examination may be unlikely).

After Nobunaga's death. One of his loyal officers; Hideyoshi Toyotomi would be filled with anger and now wanting to act revenge on Mitsuhide once he received word of Nobunaga's death, Hideyoshi would begin to hunt down Mitsuhide.

This will end page 4 of this series. In our next page (click here) we will talk about how Hideyoshi getting revenge, claiming all of Nobunaga's conquered ands, and wanting to take Korea. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.