Octavian See augustus.
Oda Nobunaga (Oda Kipp ̄oshi) (1534–1582)
Japanese warrior
Oda Nobunaga was born Oda Kipp ̄oshi on 23 June
1534, the son of Oda Nobuhide, a lord and warrior
(Sengoku daimyo) who was a samurai in Owari prov-
ince. Nobuhide died in 1549, and Nobunaga inherited
his father’s estates and titles when he turned 17. No-
bunaga became known for his ruthlessness, utilizing his
samurai training to capture territory and make other
samurai dependent on his leadership; he even had his
own younger brother Nobuyuki, whom he suspected
of plotting to overthrow him, killed. By 1559, Owari
was firmly under Nobunaga’s control, and he undertook
a series of actions against other overlords. In 1560, he
fought his first major battle at Okehazama, in which he
defeated the forces of Imagawa Yoshimoto, one of the
lords of a neighboring province. While carrying on the
fight, he also strengthened his leadership by cementing
an alliance with another lord, Tokugawa Ieyasu. Siding
with the hereditary governor Ashikaga Yoshiaki, in 1568
Nobunaga marched on the city of Kyoto, at that time
the capital of Japan, and installed Yoshiaki as the 15th
shogun (ruler). Nobunaga soon quarreled with Yoshiaki,
and in 1573 he again marched on Kyoto and deposed
him, ending the rule of the Ashikaga shoguns.
As the leading figure of Japan, Nobunaga instituted
a series of economic reforms, including ending the toll-
collecting by guilds and introducing free trade across
the country. As a military leader, Nobunaga also fought
the Buddhist monasteries (whose warriors resisted state
control) and destroyed their influence over political af-
fairs. In 1574, he mercilessly put down a rebellion by
the Buddhists of Nagashima, killing upward of 20,000
adherents. In 1575, he defeated the Takeda clan at the
battle of Nagashino. In 1580, he completed his struggle
against the Buddhist forces after a decade of fighting
by capturing the monastery of Hogan-ji in Osaka. In
1582, to consolidate all of Japan under his rule, Nobu-
naga planned a campaign to move against western Japan.
However, in June that year, he was assassinated by one
of his generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, while he was at the
Honno-ji Temple in Kyoto. Historian Michael Cooper
writes: “Oda Nobunaga died on June 21, 1582, in the
flames of Honno-ji in Kyoto, where he was caught off
his guard by the treachery of Akechi Mitsuhide. With
Nobunaga disappeared the city of Azuchi, which sym-
bolized his power and dreams.. .”
Although he died before he could unite the Japa-
nese islands, Nobunaga began this movement, and for
that reason he is remembered in Japan today. His de-