Oda Nobunaga

Who is Oda Nobunaga?

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese daimyo and military leader of the Sengoku (Warring States) period, the first of the three great unifiers of Japan. Born in Owari Province as the son of the warlord Oda Nobuhide, he consolidated control of his home province before winning a stunning victory over the much larger army of Imagawa Yoshimoto at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, which propelled him to national prominence. In 1568 he marched on Kyoto and installed Ashikaga Yoshiaki as shogun, only to expel him in 1573, effectively ending the Ashikaga shogunate. A bold military innovator, he made devastating use of massed firearms at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575 and crushed rival warlords and militant Buddhist factions, including the warrior monks of Mount Hiei. He built the grand Azuchi Castle and patronized the arts and the tea ceremony, while permitting Christian missionaries. In 1582 he was betrayed by his general Akechi Mitsuhide and forced to commit seppuku at the Honnō-ji temple in Kyoto.

Sources: Jeroen Lamers, Japonius Tyrannus: The Japanese Warlord Oda Nobunaga Reconsidered, 2000 · Encyclopaedia Britannica, entry 'Oda Nobunaga'