Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582)

Oda Nobunaga was born with only a small bit of property, but like many other daimyo of the era, Nobunaga rose to power mostly through his military prowess. Ruthlessly taking over his neighbors, he controlled the majority of his province by the age of 25. Among his many allies was a young Toyotomi Hideoshi, who would later rise from his peasant background to become ruler of Japan. A wildly successful surprise attack on Imagawa Yoshimoto is 1560 propelled Nobunaga to the front ranks of military power in Japan. Furthermore, it brought him his greatest ally, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had previously been obligated to serve Yoshimoto. With only two provinces standing between him and Kyoto, Nobunaga quickly took these as well through intermarriage with the ruling families.

Now all that Nobunaga needed in order to take Kyoto was an excuse. In 1565 the puppet shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru was killed by his cruel puppeteers, who promptly replaced him with his cousin. The murdered shogun's younger brother Yoshiaki fled he capital and came to Oda Nobunaga for protection. Nobunaga now had his excuse. In the name of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the rightful shogun, he fought his way into Kyoto and restored Yoshiaki as the shogun. It goes without saying that Yoshiaki was to become nothing more than Nobunaga's puppet. With one hand controlling the government at Kyoto and the other hand leading a group of formidable allies, Oda Nobunaga was now the most powerful man in Japan.

Nobunaga now set out to conquer those who would defy his rule, and to break up any hostile alliances before they could form. The first targets were the Asai and Asakura families, whom he defeated in a 1570 battle with the help of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Next on his list were the militant monks of the Ikko-ikki, but remnants of the Asai and Asakura attacked his back end, and Nobunaga was forced to put off fighting the Ikko-ikki while he dealt with these attacks. At the same time, he was assaulted by the monks of Mount Hiei. This infuriated Nobunaga, and he set out to annihilate all Bhuddist warrior monks, despite the high esteem that many held them in. By 1580 both the Hiei monks and the Ikko-ikki had been crushed.

Azuchi Castle

With such sweeping changes in the political fabric of the time, it comes as no surprise that the castles underwent many radical changes as well. It is during this time period that we see the birth of the 'modern' Japanese castle. In 1576 Oda Nobunaga built the mighty Azuchi castle, from whence we get the first half of 'Azuchi-Momoyama'. Most all experts agree that Azuchi is the castle which revolutionized castle building in Japan. It was the first hirayamajiro, or flatland-mountain castle, which are castles built on low hills as opposed to at the tops of mountatins. The tenshu was built bigger and higher than previous tenshu, giving a greater view of the surrounding plain. Being on the plain also allowed the castle to accomodate large numbers of regular troops. Several commonly used defensive structures were seen for the first time in Azuchi; these include masugata, multiple maru, ishigaki at the center, and hidden floors within the tenshu. Furthermore, Azuchi was the first castle to be built not only for a defensive purpose, but also to show off the great power of its builder. Other castles built soon after reflect this change in attitude: Nagahama and Himeji castles (built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi), amd Sakamoto and Tanbakameyama castles (owned by the traitor Akechi Mitsuhide) were built in the same style as Azuchi.

Nobunaga's Death

In 1582 Nobunaga set his sights on the Mori clan, who had been allies of the Ikko-ikki. He sent Toyotomi Hideyoshi out to deal with them while he stayed in Kyoto. The military campaign drew away many of Nobunaga's troops, and he was left with only a small bodyguard. Upon Hideyoshi's request for reinforcements, Nobunaga sent Akechi Mitsuhide, one of his most trusted generals. This proved disastrous, however, as Mitsuhide turned around and attacked Nobunaga as he was entertaining guests at Honmo temple. The temple burned to the ground and Nobunaga's remains were never found. Mitsuhide's exact reasons for treachery are uncertain; some speculate that he was embittered over public embarassment he sometimes suffered at the hands of Nobunaga. Another theory has it that Mitsuhide blamed Nobunaga for the death of his mother, who had been killed by vengeful retainers whose master had been executed by Nobunaga.