Rise of Oda Nobunaga

Born in June 1534 at Nagoya Nobunaga or Kipposhias was his child name, was the eldest legitimate son of his father, the so-called “Tiger of Owari”, Oda Nobuhide. While only 6 years old he was made lord of Nagoya castle, with Nobuhide possibly wanting to inculcate the traits of independence and self-sufficiency to the young boy who was destined to become the next leader of the Oda clan.

Rise
of Oda Nobunaga

However, and despite being the ruler of a castle, Kipposhi was still a child and would get into all kinds of mischief during his childhood and teenage years, like running around with peasant boys, while he was especially fond of wrestling and hawking. Such behavior earned him the “title” of “The Fool of Owari” and alienated many of his clan’s retainers who believed that he was ignoring his duties, which in turn led to a succession crisis.

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Nobunaga would have to spend almost a decade fighting against his brothers, Nobuhiro and Nobuyuki, and his uncle, Nobutomo to consolidate his leadership of the clan. At the same time, Owari and Nobunaga were threatened by external enemies most important of which was Saitō Yoshitatsu, the son of Nobunaga's father-in-law, Saitō Dosan, who ruled over the neighboring Mino province.

Yoshitatsu had risen to open rebellion in1555 after he became aware his father intended to name one of his other sons as heir. Although Oda troops were sent as aid, Dosanperished in battle and Yoshitatsu became the new master of Mino; thus Nobunaga was deprived of his most important ally.

Nobunaga’s greatest challenge, however, would come in 1560, when Imagawa Yoshimoto, one of the most powerful daimyos in all of japan and ruler of Suruga province, gathered an army of 25000 men and marched towards Kyōtowith the pretext of assisting the failing Ashikaga Shogunate, while his true goal was to assume the title of Shogun for himself or at the very least control the Shogunatefrom the shadows.

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As the road to Kyōto passed through the province of Owari, one of Yoshimoto’s side objectives was the subjugation of the area and his long-standing rival, the Oda clan. When news of Yoshimoto’s approaching invasion force reached Nobunaga at Kiyosu, he summoned a war council to decide upon the strategy he would follow.

His senior retainers, scared of the enemy numbers, advised the young warlord to stand fast and defend Kiyosu castle. Nobunaga remained so indifferent to the intelligence he had been delivered, that some of his followers even started doubting his sanity. On the following day, however, the catatonicNobunaga of the previous evening gave his place to a highly energetic general.

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He mustered his troops, around 2000 ashigaru, his samurai retinue, and a few horsemen. Unconcerned that he was going to face an enemy12 times the size of his army, the Oda daimyo famously chanted a few verses from Tsumori, donned his armor while having breakfast, and then rode out of the castle with his small contingent to meet his enemy in the open battlefield.

On the other hand, Imagawa Yoshimoto had made camp at the gorge of Dengakuhazama and acted as if he had already won the war, indulging himself in the head-viewing ceremony called Nikken. While Yoshimoto was busy congratulating himself for a war he had yet to win, Nobunaga’s scouts, who by now had arrived near Okehazama, reported to him the location of the Imagawa camp.

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Knowing this was the opportunity he needed to win, Nobunaga acted quickly. He ordered his men to make straw scarecrows and dress them as well as to place a large number of flags and banners to fool the Imagawatroops into thinking he had set up camp there. When this was done he led his men around Nakajimacastle, using a dangerous route that passed through rice paddies that would leave them exposed to an enemy assault.

However, luck was on Nobunaga’s side and the Oda troops reached their objective, a hill that overlooked the rear of Yoshimoto’sencampment, undetected. It was now afternoon and the storm that had been gathering finally broke out; the downpour forced the Imagawa soldiers, most of them now drunk by celebrating all day, to return to their tents.

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Under the cover of the heavy rain and the sound of the thunderstorm, the Oda samurai and ashigaru furiously charged the invaders, taking them completely by surprise. The ensuing melee was more of slaughter than a battle, as the dazed and shocked Imagawa forces were unable to form any meaningful resistance.

Hearing the commotion, Yoshimoto came out of his tent only to be immediately attacked by an Owari spearman named Hattori Koheita. The Shugo of Suruga was quick enough to dodge the ashigaru’s move but not the one that came from a second attacker, a samurai called Mori Shinsuke who managed to decapitate the Imagawa daimyo with a single strike of his sword.

Yoshimoto’s death was the final nail in the Imagawa army’s coffin which turned tail and was completely routed from the battlefield. The Imagawa forces in the vicinity promptly returned to Suruga abandoning the Oda castles they had conquered just a few days before. Okehazama and Yoshimoto’s death was the end for the Imagawa as a clan.

His 22-year-old son and heir, Ujizane was an aesthete and had little head for military thinking and strategy. Sensing his weakness, one of his vassals, a man named Matsudaira Motoyasu-, prepared to switch sides and join the Oda cause under the rising star of Nobunaga, whose fame had now spread in all of Japan.

The strategic location of Mino was so important that it was said whoever controlled it would rule Japan. It was natural then that Nobunaga’s next goal would be the conquest of his neighboring province. When Yoshitatsu passed from illness in 1561, Nobunaga found the chance he needed to attack.