Japanese Warriors?

Question

Help, I need info on...
Hattori Hanzo
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Oda Nobunaga

Answer 1

ok here it comes...
Hanzo Hattori
Hattori Hanzō (服部半蔵, Hattori Hanzō?) (1541–1596), also formally known as Masanari or Masashige (服部正成, Hattori Masanari?), the son of a certain Hattori Yasunaga, was a head of clan from Iga region of Japan, famous for its Ninja, including Hattori. He is commonly depicted as such in manga and novel fiction. Born a samurai vassal of the Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) clan, Hanzo, who would earn the nickname Oni no Hanzō (Devil Hanzo) due to the ferocity he displayed in battle, served Tokugawa Ieyasu loyally and usefully. His nickname distinguishes him from another Tokugawa samurai, Watanabe Hanzō, called Hanzō of Spear.

Though Hanzo was born and raised in Mikawa, he often returned to Iga, home of the Hattori ninja family. He was an extremely skilled swordsman, tactician, spearman, and a master of all ninja techniques. This is because the Iga and Koga regions were the birthplace of ninjutsu, and there were over 70 clandestine organizations carrying out the art in the region. In the surrounding mountains there were large institutes for training in military tactics. Onmyodo, a Chinese system of divination propagated in Kyoto by Abe no Seimei, had been brought from the capital. The village of Yagyu, along the Kyoto-Nara border, was home to a venerable school of sword technique. And the Hozo-in temple in Nara supported of a unique school of spear fighting. All the arts necessary for ninjutsu could be acquired within a radius of 45 miles from Iga. Hattori, who fought his first battle at the age of 16, went on to serve at the battles of Anegawa (1570) and Mikatagahara (1572), but his most valuable contribution came in 1582, following Oda Nobunaga's death.


Hanzo's grave located at the Sainen-ji temple cemetery in Shinjuku, Tokyo.At that time, Ieyasu and his retainers had been staying near Osaka and learned of the assassination only just in time to avoid being detained by Akechi Mitsuhide's troops. But they were not safe yet. Mikawa was still a long way away, and Akechi's men would be combing the roads for them. At this point, Hanzō suggested that they take a route through Iga, as he had ties with the samurai there. In addition, Ieyasu had sheltered survivors from Nobunaga's bloody invasion of that province in 1580 and those who knew of this would certainly be well disposed to offer assistance. Honda Tadakatsu sent Hanzō on ahead, and, as hoped, the Iga men agreed not only to guide them along back roads, but also to provide them with an escort. At length, Ieyasu and his band returned to Mikawa safely. The same could not be said for Anayama Beisetsu, a recent Tokugawa addition who had insisted on taking a different route.

Hanzo Masanari died in 1596 at the age of fifty-five. He was succeeded by his eighteen-year-old son, whose name was also Masanari, though written with different japanese characters. His son was given the title "Iwami-no-Kami" and his men would act as guards of Edo Castle. Hanzo’s son had not mastered ninjutsu, and he mistreated the members of the Band of Iga. The ninja did not consider him worthy of the name Hanzo, and the band revolted. Armed with guns and bows, they holed up in a nearby temple and demanded his dismissal. If their demand was not met, they vowed to kill Masanari and to take their own lives. Their number was large enough that historians consider their action to be the first strike in Japan. The year was 1605. After his dismissal, the Band of Iga was divided into four factions, each led by a low-ranking samurai.

To this day, artifacts of Hanzo's legacy remain; the Imperial Palace (formerly the shogun's palace) still has a gate called Hanzo's Gate, and the Hanzo-mon subway line which runs from central Tokyo to the southwestern suburbs is named after the gate. Hanzo’s remains now rest in the Sainen-ji temple cemetery in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The temple also holds his favorite spears.

Tokugawa Ieyasu
[edit] Early life (1543–1556)
Tokugawa Ieyasu was born on January 31, 1543 in the Mikawa province. Originally named Matsudaira Takechiyo, he was the son of Matsudaira Hirotada (1526–1549), the lord of Mikawa and Dai-no-kata, the daughter of a neighboring samurai lord Mizuno Tadamasa. Oddly, his mother and father were step-brother and step-sister to each other. They were just 17 and 15 years old when Ieyasu was born. Two years later, Dai-no-kata was sent back to her family and the couple never lived together again. Both husband and wife remarried and both had children so Ieyasu ended up with 11 half-brothers and sisters.

The Matsudaira family was split: one side wanted to be a vassal of the Imagawa clan, while the other side preferred the Oda. As a result, much of Ieyasu's early years were spent in danger as wars with the Oda and Imagawa clans were fought. This family feud was the reason behind the murder of Hirotada's father (Takechiyo's grandfather), Matsudaira Kiyoyasu (1511–1536). Unlike his father and the majority of his branch of the family, Ieyasu's father, Hirotada, favored the Imagawa clan.

In 1548, when the Oda clan invaded Mikawa, Hirotada turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto, the head of the Imagawa clan, for help to repel the invaders. Yoshimoto agreed to help under the condition that Hirotada send his son Ieyasu (Takechiyo) to Sumpu as a hostage. Hirotada agreed. Oda Nobuhide, the leader of the Oda clan, learned of this arrangement and had Ieyasu abducted from his entourage en route to Sumpu. Ieyasu was just six years old at the time.

Nobuhide threatened to execute Ieyasu unless his father severed all ties with the Imagawa clan. Hirotada replied that sacrificing his own son would show his seriousness in his pact with the Imagawa clan. Despite this refusal, Nobuhide chose not to kill Ieyasu but instead held him for the next three years at the Manshoji Temple in Nagoya.

In 1549, at the age of 24, Ieyasu's father Hirotada died of natural causes. At about the same time, Oda Nobuhide died during an epidemic. The deaths dealt a heavy blow to the Oda clan. An army under the command of Imagawa Sessai laid siege to the castle where Oda Nobuhiro, Nobuhide's eldest son and the new head of the Oda, was living. With the castle about to fall, Imagawa Sessai offered a deal to Oda Nobunaga (Oda Nobuhide's second son). Sessai offered to give up the siege if Ieyasu was handed over to the Imagawa clan. Nobunaga agreed and so Ieyasu (now nine) was taken as a hostage to Sumpu. Here he lived a fairly good life as hostage and potentially useful future ally of the Imagawa clan until he was 15.


[edit] Rise to power (1556–1584)
In 1556, Ieyasu came of age, and, following tradition, changed his name to Matsudaira Jirosaburo Motonobu. One year later, at the age of 16, he married his first wife and changed his name again to Matsudaira Kurando Motoyasu. Allowed to return to his native Mikawa, the Imagawa ordered him to fight the Oda clan in a series of battles. Ieyasu won his first battle at the Siege of Terabe and later succeeded in delivering supplies to a border fort through a bold night attack.

In 1560 the leadership of the Oda clan had passed to the brilliant leader Oda Nobunaga. Yoshimoto, leading a large Imagawa army (perhaps 20,000 strong) then attacked the Oda clan territory. Ieyasu with his Mikawa troops captured a fort at the border and then stayed there to defend it. As a result, Ieyasu and his men were not present at the Battle of Okehazama where Yoshimoto was killed by Oda Nobunaga's surprise assault.

With Yoshimoto dead, Ieyasu decided to ally with the Oda clan. A secret deal was needed because Ieyasu's wife and infant son, Hideyasu were held hostage in Sumpu by the Imagawa clan. In 1561, Ieyasu openly broke with the Imagawa and captured the fortress of Kaminojo. Ieyasu was then able to exchange his wife and son for the wife and daughter of the ruler of Kaminojo castle.

For the next few years Ieyasu set about reforming the Matsudaira clan and pacifying Mikawa. He also strengthened his key vassals by awarding them land and castles in Mikawa. They were: Honda Tadakatsu, Ishikawa Kazumasa, Koriki Kiyonaga Sakai Tadatsugu, and Sakakibara Yasumasa.

In 1564, Ieyasu defeated the military forces of the Mikawa Monto within Mikawa province. The Monto were a warlike group of monks that were ruling Kaga province and had many temples elsewhere in Japan. They refused to obey Ieyasu's commands and so he went to war with them, defeating their troops and pulling down their temples. In one battle Ieyasu was nearly killed when he was struck by a bullet which did not penetrate his armor. Both Ieyasu's Mikawa troops and the Monto forces were using the new gunpowder weapons which the Portuguese had introduced to Japan just 20 years earlier.

In 1567 Ieyasu changed his name yet again, his new surname was Tokugawa and his personal name was now Ieyasu. In so doing, he claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. No proof has actually been found for this claimed descent.

Ieyasu remained an ally of Oda Nobunaga and his Mikawa soldiers were part of Nobunaga's army which captured Kyoto in 1568. At the same time Ieyasu was expanding his own territory. He and Takeda Shingen, the head of the Takeda clan in Kai Province made an alliance for the purpose of conquering all the Imagawa territory. In 1570, Ieyasu's troops captured Totomi province while Shingen's troops captured Suruga province (including the Imagawa capital of Sumpu).

Ieyasu ended his alliance with Takeda and sheltered their former enemy, Imagawa Ujizane; he also allied with Uesugi Kenshin of the Uesugi clan—an enemy of the Takeda clan. Later that year, Ieyasu led 5,000 of his own men supporting Nobunaga at the Battle of Anegawa against the Asai and Asakura clans.

In October 1571, Takeda Shingen, now allied with the Hōjō clan, attacked the Tokugawa lands of Totomi. Ieyasu asked for help from Nobunaga, who sent him some 3,000 troops. Early in 1572 the two armies met at the Battle of Mikatagahara. Nobunaga's troops fled early and the Takeda army, under the expert direction of Shingen, hammered at Ieyasu's remaining troops till they were broken. Ieyasu fled with just 5 men to a nearby castle. This was a major loss for Ieyasu but Shingen was unable to exploit his victory because Ieyasu quickly gathered a new army and refused to fight Shingen again on the battlefield.

Fortune smiled on Ieyasu a year later when Takeda Shingen died at a siege early in 1573. Shingen was succeeded by his less capable son Takeda Katsuyori. In 1575 the Takeda army attacked Nagashino Castle in Mikawa province. Ieyasu appealed to Oda Nobunaga for help and the result was that Nobunaga personally came at the head of his very large army (about 30,000 strong). The Oda-Tokugawa force of 38,000 won a great victory on June 28, 1575 at the Battle of Nagashino, though Takeda Katsuyori survived the battle and retreated back to Kai province.

For the next seven years, Ieyasu and Katsuyori fought a series of small battles. Ieyasu's troops managed to wrest control of Suruga province away from the Takeda clan.

In 1579, Ieyasu's wife, and his eldest son, Tokugawa Nobuyasu, were accused of conspiring with Takeda Katsuyori to assassinate Nobunaga. Ieyasu's wife was executed and Hideyasu was forced to commit seppuku. Ieyasu then named his third and favorite son, Tokugawa Hidetada, as heir, since his second son was adopted by another rising power: Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the future ruler of all Japan.

The end of the war with Takeda came in 1582 when a combined Oda-Tokugawa force attacked and conquered Kai province. Takeda Katsuyori, as well as his eldest son Takeda Nobukatsu, were defeated at the Battle of Temmokuzan and then committed seppuku.

In late 1582, Ieyasu was near Osaka and far from his own territory when he learned that Oda Nobunaga had been assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide. Ieyasu managed the dangerous journey back to Mikawa, avoiding Mitsuhide's troops along the way, as they were trying to find and kill him. One week after he arrived in Mikawa, Ieyasu's army marched out to take revenge on Mitsuhide. But they were too late, Hideyoshi—on his own—defeated and killed Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki.

The death of Oda Nobunaga meant that some provinces, ruled by Nobunaga's vassels, were ripe for conquest. The leader of Kai province made the mistake of killing one of Ieyasu's aides. Ieyasu promptly invaded Kai and took control. Hōjō Ujimasa, leader of the Hōjō clan responded by sending his much larger army into Shinano and then into Kai province. No battles were fought between Ieyasu's forces and the large Hōjō army and, after some negotiation, Ieyasu and the Hōjō agreed to a settlement which left Ieyasu in control of both Kai and Shinano provinces, while the Hōjō took control of Kazusa province (as well as bits of both Kai and Shinano province).

At the same time (1583) a war for rule over Japan was fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie. Ieyasu did not take a side in this conflict, building on his reputation for both caution and wisdom. Hideyoshi defeated Katsuie at the Battle of Shizugatake—with this victory, Hideyoshi became the single most powerful daimyo in Japan.


[edit] Ieyasu and Hideyoshi (1584–1598)
In 1584, Ieyasu decided to support Oda Nobuo, the eldest son and heir of Oda Nobunaga, against Hideyoshi. This was a dangerous act and could have resulted in the annihilation of the Tokugawa.

Main article: Battle of Komaki

Hideyoshi and Ieyasu played go at this board.Tokugawa troops took the traditional Oda stronghold of Owari, Hideyoshi responded by sending an army into Owari. The Komaki campaign was the only time any of the great unifiers of Japan fought each other: Hideyoshi vs. Ieyasu. In the event, Ieyasu won the only notable battle of the campaign, the Battle of Nagakute. After months of fruitless marchs and feints, Hideyoshi settled the war through negotiation. First he made peace with Oda Nobuo, and then he offered a truce to Ieyasu. The deal was made at the end of the year; as part of the terms Ieyasu's second son, O Gi Maru, became an adopted son of Hideyoshi.

Ieyasu's aide, Ishikawa Kazumasa, chose to join the pre-eminent daimyo and so he moved to Osaka to be with Hideyoshi. However, only a few other Tokugawa retainers followed this example.

Hideyoshi was understandably distrustful of Ieyasu, and five years passed before they fought as allies. The Tokugawa did not participate in Hideyoshi's successful invasions of Shikoku and Kyūshū.

In 1590 Hideyoshi attacked the last independent daimyo in Japan, Hōjō Ujimasa. The Hōjō clan ruled the eight provinces of the Kantō region in north-eastern Japan. Hideyoshi ordered them to submit to his authority and they refused. Ieyasu, though a friend and occasional ally of Ujimasa, joined his large force of 30,000 samurai with Hideyoshi's enormous army of some 160,000. Hideyoshi attacked several castles on the borders of the Hōjō clan with most of his army laying siege to the castle at Odawara. Hideyoshi's army captured Odawara after six months (oddly for the time period, deaths on both sides were few). During this siege, Hideyoshi offered Ieyasu a radical deal. He offered Ieyasu the eight Kantō provinces which they were about to take from the Hōjō in return for the five provinces that Ieyasu currently controlled (including Ieyasu's home province of Mikawa). Ieyasu accepted this proposal. Bowing to the overwhelming power of the Toyotomi army, the Hōjō accepted defeat, the top Hōjō leaders killed themselves and Ieyasu marched in and took control of their provinces, so ending the clan's 450 year reign.

Ieyasu now gave up control of his five provinces (Mikawa, Totomi, Suruga, Shinano, and Kai) and moved all his soldiers and vassels to the Kantō region. He himself occupied the castle town of Edo in Kantō. This was possibly the riskiest move Ieyasu ever made — to leave his home province and rely on the uncertain loyalty of the formerly Hōjō samurai in Kantō. In the event, it worked out brilliantly for Ieyasu. He reformed the Kantō provinces, controlled and pacified the Hōjō samurai and improved the underlying economic infrastructure of the lands. Also, because Kantō was somewhat isolated from the rest of Japan, Ieyasu was able to maintain a unique level of autonomy from Hideyoshi's rule. Within a few years, Ieyasu had become the second most powerful daimyo in Japan. There is a Japanese proverb which likely refers to this event "Ieyasu won the Empire by retreating." (A. L. Sadler, p. 164).

In 1592, Hideyoshi invaded Korea as a prelude to his plan to attack China (see Hideyoshi's attack on Korea for more information about this campaign). The Tokugawa samurai never took part in this campaign. Early in 1593, Ieyasu was summoned to Hideyoshi's court in Nagoya, as a military advisor. He stayed there, off and on for the next five years. Despite his frequent absences, Ieyasu's sons, loyal retainers and vassals were able to control and improve Edo and the other new Tokugawa lands.

In 1593, Hideyoshi fathered a son and heir, Toyotomi Hideyori. In 1598, with his health clearly failing, Hideyoshi called a meeting that would determine the Council of Five Elders who would be responsible for ruling on behalf of his son after his death. The five that were chosen as regents (tairō) for Hideyori were Maeda Toshiie, Mōri Terumoto, Ukita Hideie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu was the most powerful of the five.


[edit] The Sekigahara Campaign(1598–1603)
Hideyoshi, after three more months of increasing sickness, died on August 18, 1598. He was nominally succeeded by his young son Hideyori but as he was just five years old, real power was in the hands of the regents. Over the next two years Ieyasu (Tokugawa) made alliances with various daimyo, especially those who had no love for Hideyoshi. Happily for Ieyasu, the oldest and most respected of the regents died after just one year. With the death of Regent Toshiie in 1599, Ieyasu led an army to Fushimi and took over Osaka Castle, the residence of Hideyori. This angered the three remaining regents and plans were made on all sides for war.

Opposition to Ieyasu centered around Ishida Mitsunari, a powerful daimyo but not one of the regents. Ishida plotted Ieyasu's death and news of this plot reached some of Ieyasu's generals. They attempted to kill Ishida but he fled and gained protection from none other than Ieyasu himself. It is not clear why Ieyasu protected a powerful enemy from his own men but Ieyasu was a master strategist and he may have concluded that he would be better off with Ishida leading the enemy army rather than one of the regents, who would have more legitimacy (A. L. Sadler, p. 187).

Nearly all of Japan's daimyo and samurai now split into two factions—the "eastern camp" supported Ieyasu while the "western camp" supported Ishida Mitsunari. Ieyasu's allies were the Date clan, the Mogami clan, the Sataki clan and the Maeda clan. Mitsunari allied himself with the three other regents: Ukita Hideie, Mori Terumoto, and Uesugi Kagekatsu as well as many daimyo from the eastern end of Honshū.

In June 1600, Ieyasu and his allies defeated the Uesugi clan. Ieyasu then led the majority of his army west towards Kyoto. In late summer, Ishida's forces captured Fushimi.

In Shinano Province, Ieyasu stationed 36,000 Tokugawa men commanded by Tokugawa Hidetada. Ieyasu knew that the Kobayakawa clan, led by Kobayakawa Hideaki, was planning to defect from the Ishida side, and that the Mori clan was also thinking of joining his side. Hidetada's army was placed to make sure these clans sided with the Tokugawa.

Main article: Battle of Sekigahara


This battle was the biggest and likely the most important battle in Japanese history. It began on October 21, 1600 with a total of 160,000 men facing each other. The Battle of Sekigahara ended with a complete Tokugawa victory. The Western bloc was crushed and over the next few days Ishida Mitsunari and many other western nobles were captured and killed. Tokugawa Ieyasu was now the de facto ruler of Japan.

Immediately after the victory at Sekigahara, Ieyasu redistributed land to the vassals who had served him. Ieyasu left some western daimyo un-harmed, such as the Shimazu clan, but others were completely destroyed. Toyotomi Hideyori (the son of Hideyoshi) was allowed to become a common citizen and for the next 10 years he lived a quiet life in Osaka Castle while Ieyasu ruled Japan. In later years the vassals who had pledged allegiance to Ieyasu before Sekigahara became known as the fudai daimyo, while those who pledged allegiance to him after the battle (in other words, after his power was unquestioned) were known as tozama daimyo. Tozama daimyo were considered inferior to fudai daimyo.

Oda Nobunaga
[edit] Life

[edit] Unification of Owari Province
In 1551, Oda Nobuhide died unexpectedly, and during his funeral, Nobunaga was said to have acted outrageously, throwing the ceremonial incense at the altar. This act further alienated many Oda retainers, convincing them of Nobunaga's supposed mediocrity and lack of discipline, and they began to side with his more soft-spoken and well-mannered brother, Nobuyuki.

Ashamed for Nobunaga's behavior, Hirate Masahide committed seppuku. This came as a huge blow to Nobunaga, who lost a mentor and a valuable retainer. He later built a temple to honor Hirate.

Though Nobunaga was recognized as Nobuhide's legitimate successor, the Oda clan was divided into many factions, and even then, the entire clan was technically under Owari's true kanrei, Shiba Yoshimune. Thus, Oda Nobutomo, being Owari's deputy shugo with the powerless Shiba as his puppet, was able to challenge Nobunaga's place as Owari's new master. Nobutomo murdered Yoshimune when it was clear he supported and attempted to aid Nobunaga.

Nobunaga successfully persuaded Oda Nobumitsu, a younger brother of Nobuhide, to join his side, however, and with Nobumitsu's help, Nobutomo was slain in Kiyosu Castle, which later became Nobunaga's place of residence for over ten years. Taking advantage of Yoshimune's son Shiba Yoshikane's position as the rightful kanrei, Nobunaga forged an alliance with the Imagawa clan of Suruga province and the Kira clan of Mikawa province, as both clans were also kanrei and would have no excuse to decline. In effect, this ensured the Imagawa would have to stop attacking Owari's borders.

Even though Nobuyuki and his supporters were still at large, Nobunaga led an army to Mino province to aid Saito Dosan, when his son, Saito Yoshitatsu, turned against him. The campaign failed, however, as Dosan was killed and Yoshitatsu became the new master of Mino in 1556.

A few months later, Nobuyuki, with the support of Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada, rebelled against Nobunaga. They were defeated at the Battle of Inō. The three were pardoned with the intervention of the birth mother of Nobunaga and Nobuyuki. However, the next year, Nobuyuki again planned to rebel. Informed by Shibata Katsuie, Nobunaga faked illness and assassinated Nobuyuki in Kiyosu Castle.

By 1559, Nobunaga had already eliminated all opposition within the clan as well as Owari province. He continued to use Shiba Yoshikane as an excuse to make peace with other daimyo, although it was later discovered that Yoshikane secretly corresponded with the Kira and Imagawa clans, trying to oust Nobunaga and restore the Shiba clan's place. Nobunaga cast him out, and alliances made in the Shiba clan's name thus became void.


[edit] Battle of Okehazama
In 1560, Imagawa Yoshimoto gathered an army of 20,000 to 40,000 men and started his march toward Kyoto, with the excuse of aiding the frail Ashikaga shogunate. The Matsudaira clan of Mikawa was also to join Yoshimoto's forces.

In comparison, the Oda clan could barely rally an army of 5,000, and the forces would also have to be split up to defend various forts at the border. Under such dire circumstances, Nobunaga was said to have performed his favorite Atsumori dance, before riding off with only a few attendants to pray in a shrine. Aided by a sudden thunderstorm, Nobunaga assaulted the Imagawa camp and slew Yoshimoto, resulting in a victory that stunned the entire country. This was known as the Battle of Okehazama, and brought Nobunaga's name to national prominence.

Rapidly weakening, the Imagawa clan no longer exerted control over the Matsudaira clan. In 1561, an alliance was forged between Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Motoyasu (later Tokugawa Ieyasu), despite the decades-old hostility between the two clans.


[edit] "Tenka Fubu"
In Mino, Saito Yoshitatsu died suddenly of illness in 1561, and was succeeded by his son, Saito Tatsuoki. Tatsuoki, however, was young and much less effective as a ruler and military strategist compared to his father and grandfather. Taking advantage of this situation, Nobunaga moved his base to Komaki Castle and started his campaign in Mino.

By convincing Saito retainers to abandon their incompetent and foolish master, Nobunaga weakened the Saito clan significantly, eventually mounting a final attack in 1567. Nobunaga captured Inabayama Castle and sent Saito Tatsuoki into exile.

Oda Nobunaga then moved into Inabayama, and renamed his new castle as well as the city to Gifu. Naming it after the legendary Mount Gi in China (Qi in Standard Mandarin), on which the Zhou dynasty started, Nobunaga revealed his ambition to conquer the whole of Japan. He also started using a new personal seal that read Tenka Fubu (天下布武), which means "Spread the militarism over the whole land", or literally "... under the sky".

In 1564, Nobunaga had his sister, Oichi marry Azai Nagamasa, a daimyo in northern Omi province. This would later help pave the way to Kyoto.

In 1568, the last Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki went to Gifu, requesting that Nobunaga start a campaign toward Kyoto. Yoshiaki was the brother of the murdered 13th Ashikaga shogun, Yoshiteru. The killers of Yoshiteru had already set up a puppet shogun, Ashikaga Yoshihide.

Nobunaga agreed to Yoshiaki's request, grasping the opportunity to enter Kyoto, and started his campaign. An obstacle in the southern Omi province, however, was the Rokkaku clan. Led by Rokkaku Yoshikata, the clan refused to recognize Yoshiaki as shogun and was ready to go to war. Nobunaga launched a rapid attack, driving the Rokkaku clan out of their castles.

Within a short amount of time, Nobunaga had reached Kyoto and driven the Miyoshi clan out of the city. Yoshiaki was made the 15th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate.

Nobunaga refused the post of Kanrei, and eventually began to restrict the powers of the shogun, making it clear that he intended to use him as a puppet to justify his future conquests. Yoshiaki, however, was not pleased about being a puppet, and thus, he secretly corresponded with various daimyo, forging an anti-Nobunaga alliance.

The Asakura clan, in particular, was disdainful of the Oda clan's rising power. Historically, the Oda clan had been subordinate to the Asakura clan, and Asakura Yoshikage also temporarily protected Ashikaga Yoshiaki but was not willing enough to march toward Kyoto; thus, the Asakura clan despised Nobunaga the most for his success.

When Nobunaga launched a campaign into the Asakura clan's domain, Azai Nagamasa, to whom Oichi was married, broke the alliance with Oda to honour the Azai-Asakura alliance which had lasted for generations. With the help of Ikko rebels, the anti-Nobunaga alliance sprang into full force, taking a heavy toll on the Oda clan.

At the Battle of Anegawa, Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the combined forces of the Asakura and Azai clans.

Nobunaga waged war even against Buddhists when they did not obey him. The Enryakuji monastery on Mt. Hiei, with its Tendai warrior monks, was a particular thorn in his side, residing as it did so close to his residence at the old capital city of Kyoto. Nobunaga attacked Enryakuji and burnt it to the ground in 1571, even though it had been admired as a significant cultural symbol at the time, killing between 20,000 and 30,000 men, women, and children in the process.

Through the years, Nobunaga was able to consolidate his position and conquer his enemies through brutality. In Nagashima, for example, Nobunaga suffered tremendous losses to the Ikko resistance, including a couple of his brothers. Nobunaga finally surrounded the enemy complex and set fire to it, again killing tens of thousands of non-combatants, mostly women and children.

At the height of the anti-Nobunaga alliance, Takeda Shingen was convinced that he should rise against the Oda clan. Tied down in perpetual warfare, Nobunaga sent lacklustre aid to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who suffered defeat at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1572.

However, after the battle, the Takeda forces retreated as Shingen died of illness (or perhaps, as it had been speculated, of aggravated wounds or at the hand of an assassin) in 1573. This was a relief for Nobunaga, who could now focus on Yoshiaki, who had openly declared hostility more than once, despite the imperial court's intervention.

Nobunaga defeated Yoshiaki's weak forces and sent him into exile, bringing the Ashikaga shogunate to an end in the same year.

Still in the same year, Nobunaga successfully destroyed the Asakura and Azai clans, and Azai Nagamasa sent Oichi back to Nobunaga as he committed suicide. With Nagashima's destruction in 1574, the only threat to Nobunaga was the Takeda clan, now led by Takeda Katsuyori.

At the decisive Battle of Nagashino, the combined forces of Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu devastated the Takeda clan with the strategic use of arquebuses. Nobunaga compensated for the arquebus' slow reloading time by arranging the arquebusiers in three lines. After each line fired, it would duck and reload as the next line fired. The bullets were able to pierce the Takeda cavalry armor.

Nobunaga continued his expansion, sending Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie to the north and Akechi Mitsuhide to Tamba province.

The Oda clan's siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji in Osaka still had little progress, but the Mori clan of Chūgoku region started sending supplies into the strongly-fortified complex by sea, breaking the naval blockade.

In 1577, Hashiba Hideyoshi was ordered to expand west to confront the Mori clan.

In 1578, the Azuchi Castle in the Omi province was completed, an impressive and extravagantly decorated castle that shocked European missionaries and ordinary courtiers alike.

However, in the same year, Uesugi Kenshin, who was said to be the only military commander to have beaten Takeda Shingen in battle, started his march toward the Oda domain as well. He defeated the Oda army, retreated in winter only to return the next spring, but eventually died of stroke before making any progress (it is speculated that he may have been assassinated).

Nobunaga forced the Ishiyama Hongan-ji to surrender in 1580 and destroyed the Takeda clan in 1582. Nobunaga's administration was at its height of power, and was about to launch invasions into Echigo province and Shikoku.


[edit] Incident at Honnōji
In 1582, Hashiba Hideyoshi (one of Nobunaga's most trusted retainers) invaded Bitchu province, laying siege to Takamatsu Castle. However, the castle was vital to the Mori clan, and losing it would leave the Mori home domain vulnerable. Led by Mori Terumoto, reinforcements arrived outside Takamatsu Castle, and the two sides came to a standstill. Hashiba asked for reinforcements from Oda Nobunaga.

It has often been argued that Hideyoshi in fact had no need for reinforcements, but asked Nobunaga anyway for various reasons. Some believe that Hideyoshi, envied and hated by fellow generals for his swift rise from a lowly footman to a top general under Oda Nobunaga, wanted to give the credit for taking Takamatsu to Nobunaga so as to humble himself in front of other Oda vassals. Some also speculate that Hashiba or his retainers in fact wanted to put Nobunaga in a vulnerable position in the front where he might be more easily assassinated. Others believe that Hashiba in fact was the mastermind behind Akechi Mitsuhide's treachery.

In any case, Nobunaga ordered Niwa Nagahide to prepare for an invasion of Shikoku and Akechi Mitsuhide to assist Hideyoshi. En route to Chūgoku region, Nobunaga stayed at Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto. Since Nobunaga would not expect an attack in the middle of his firmly-controlled territories, he was guarded by only a few dozen personal servants and bodyguards.

Nevertheless, Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly had Honnōji surrounded in a coup, forcing Oda Nobunaga to commit suicide. At the same time, Akechi forces assaulted Nijo Castle, and Oda Nobunaga killed himself after sending the kōtaishi away. Together with him died his young page (o-kosho), Mori Ranmaru, who had served him faithfully for many years and was still in his teens at the time. Ranmaru's loyalty and devotion to his lord were widely known and praised at the time.[citation needed]

Just eleven days after the coup at Honnōji, Mitsuhide was killed at the Battle of Yamasaki

Answer 2

Yeah, I played Age of Empires 3, they are featured as units there.

Answer 3

lol, Chris!

if you think Chris' answer is too short, read "Saigo", the life of the last samurai prior to the Restoration. there you'll meet those guys.

also, there's Eiji Yoshikawa's "Taiko".