Now that his retainers had successfully avenged his betrayal, one of them would manage to seize power now that the great daimyo was gone. However, the question of who would take up Nobunaga’s Mantle would ultimately be decided on the battlefield.
In the wake of Oda Nobunaga’s death, Hashiba Hideyoshi rushed to finalize a truce with the Mori Clan before racing back to Kansai with his army to face off against the forces of Akechi Mitsuhide.
By 1582, Oda Nobunaga’s efforts at unification were gaining momentum as he increasingly consolidated power for himself. Just when it appeared that he couldn’t be stopped, he was betrayed by a subordinate and assassinated.
Oda Nobunaga became the most politically powerful daimyo in all of Japan by the early 1580s. In this episode, we explore his governance, economic management, and personal style.
Oda Nobunaga seized absolute power in the capital in 1573, but he still had many enemies to contend with in Kansai and beyond.
Beleaguered and surrounded by enemies, Oda Nobunaga nearly fell into a deadly trap while seeking battle against the Asakura Clan of northern Omi Province. Then the Takeda Clan started stabbing westward, seeking to liberate the shogun from the grasp of Nobunaga. The drama would end, however, with Yoshiaki’s removal and subsequent exile from Kyoto, thus marking the end of the Ashikaga Shogunate.
After conquering Mino Province, Oda Nobunaga needed to not only carve a path to the capital itself, but extend his control over a broad section of the Kansai region.
Oda Nobuhide, the famous “Tiger of Owari,” passed away unexpectedly in 1551, leaving his branch of the Oda Clan in the hands of his son, a rude young man with little sense of propriety or politics called “The Fool of Owari.” Throughout the 1550s, however, Nobunaga would consolidate his rule over the province and even defend it from a terrifying invasion.
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