Oda Nobunaga the Fool of Owari and the Battle of Okehazama

There are those in history who are famous for their military conquests but there are those who exceed their fame because they are ruthless and from that trait they are successful in their aims, this can only be partly true for the origins of the enigmatic man I will tell you about this week. Oda Nobunaga, his origins as a leader and his rise to power with his astounding victory at Okehazama.

Oda Nobunaga's fame comes from an era of civil war and bloodshed known in Japanese as the 'Sengoku Jidai' or Sengoku Era, the era of the samurai. Numerous clans fought for regional and national prominence in engagements up and down the country from the Shimazu clan in southern Kyushu to the Date clan in northwest Honshu, the land was divided. Three men are famous in this era as it's unifiers, Oda Nobunaga,the subject of this post, Toyotomi Hideyoshi who actually suceeded in establishing a central government and Tokugawa Ieyasu who took the reins of power after the Toyotomi lost power and established the Tokugawa shogunate in 1600.

The Birth of a Conqueror and the Unification of Owari
Oda Nobunaga was born at Nagoya Castle in the Owari domain (modern day Aichi prefecture) on June 23rd 1534 and was given his child name of Kippōshi (in samurai castes a child had a different name at childhood then chose a new name when they acheived manhood) as the second son of Oda Nobuhide. Notably as he grew up even with his position in society he ran around and played with children and youths from the area.

In 1551 his father Nobuhide died, at his funeral Nobunaga did something estanged which would alienate others in the Oda clan. He threw ceremonial incense at the altar at acted outrageously infront of the mourning retainers of his late father earning him the title of 'Fool of Owari'. This caused support for Nobunaga's brother Nobuyuki to increase as he was well-mannered and disciplined. The Oda clan was factionalised and even though Nobunaga was Nobuhide's heir the clan was still split on future leadership. Nobutomo, Nobunaga's uncle would gain prominence in a bid for power but Nobunaga outwitted him by allying with his other uncle Nobumitsu and slew Nobutomo at Kiyosu Castle. Using the influence of his connections with the leadership of the local domain Shiba Yoshikane he forged alliances with neighbouring clans to protect his borders.

Even with Nobunaga's quick thinking his brother had rebelled against him with Oda generals Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada, a battle at Inō ended with Nobunaga victorious and in a dominant position, a later rebellion by his brother would lead Nobunaga to assassinate Nobuyuki and unify the Oda clan under his leadership. But a larger trial was about to begin...

The Battle of Okehazama and the Rise of the Oda Army

 In June 1560 the warlord of Suruga, Imagawa Yoshimoto led roughly and army of 35,000 troops on a march to the capial of Kyoto under the pretense of assisting the weakened Ashikaga shogunate (the government). The Imagawa clan also allied with the Matsudaira clan under Motoyasu (who would later become the famous Tokugawa Ieyasu) and seized Oda's garrisons of Washizu and Marune.

 This act of agression forced Nobunaga into a very precarious position as he was outnumbered ten to one, yet he led his small army to Zenshōji temple, a short distance away. Oda Nobunaga knew he was a massive disadvantage and couldn't risk full on battle, his decision was swift. He left a small force at his camp with lots of banners (to trick the enemy into thinking it was his main force) and moved swiftly through a forest to the rear of the Imagawa camp. When it started to rain heavily on the afternoon of June 12nd Nobunaga made his move and his troops poured into the camp just like the rain. Without any warning the Imagawa samurai were thrown into chaos which was compounded further by the death of Imagawa's general Ii Naomori. Imagawa troops and generals were slain and swallowed up by mud underfoot. When Yoshimoto ordered the 'drunken revelry' to stop and realised his samurai were not wearing the clan crest he was beheaded, with the loss of their leader the Imagawa clan lost its centre of leadership and surrendered and became a part of the Oda forces.

This victory would seal the Imagawa's fate and the future Tokugawa Ieyasu joined the Oda as an ally until Oda's death in 1582. This victory would be the first step the young Oda leader would take to supremacy... but that is a story for another day.