Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582): daimyo, reformer, and central figure of the Sengoku era

From his birth to the unification of Owari Province (1534-1560).

Oda Nobunaga was born in Nagoya Castle on June 23, 1534, the second child of a warlord in Owari Province (now Aichi Prefecture), Oda Nobuhide. His infant name was Kippōshi (吉法師). Immediately after birth, he was appointed lord of the castle and educated by an educator (moriyaku) named Hirate Masahide. In contrast, the education of his younger brother Nobuyuki was left to his mother. Even during childhood, Nobunaga was conspicuous for his free-spirited, sometimes bizarre behavior. With the initiation ceremony in 1546 he received the adult status and was called Kazusanosuke Nobunaga from then on. Two years later he married Nōhime, a daughter of Saitō Dōsan, a warlord in Mino Province (now Gifu Prefecture). Like many marriages of the time, this one was done for political gain.

When the father Nobuhide died unexpectedly in 1551, some of the retainers, alienated by Nobunaga's behavior, were drawn to the younger brother Nobuyuki, who was blessed with more pleasant manners. In the struggle for the position of head of the family, Nobunaga defeated his fraternal rival and assumed the rights of his father. The uncle Oda Nobutomo also undertook a rebellion and seized Kiyosu Castle, a militarily and economically important base in Owari Province, which was actually due to Nobunaga. He was defeated in 1555 and forced to die by seppuku.

In the world of feudal lords, characterized by traditions and elaborate manners, Nobunaga shocked with his unorthodox attitude and non-conformist behavior. His governor Hirate Masahide committed seppuku in 1553 to reprimand him for his outlandish behavior. Nobunaga's nickname was "airhead" (in Japanese utsuke or utsukemono) because of his clothing, which was unacceptable to people of the time for a man of his standing, but can be interpreted from today's perspective as an expression of his pronounced individualism.

His father-in-law Saitō Dōsan was killed by his son Saitō Yoshitatsu in 1556. Nobunaga visited Kyōto in 1559 with 500 vassals and received an audience with the 13th Muromachi Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiteru. In that year, the province of Owari was unified by Nobunaga.

From Okehazama to the fall of the Shōgunate Ashikaga - 1560 to 1574.

In 1560, the Battle of Okehazama took place. With about 2000 to 3000 soldiers he defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto, a leading warlord in the provinces of Mikawa (today the eastern part of Aichi Prefecture), Tōtōmi (today the western part of Shizuoka Prefecture) and Suruga (today the eastern part of Shizuoka Prefecture), who had invaded Owari Province with 25,000 soldiers. As a result, the Imagawa (clan) were massively weakened, but Yoshimoto's son and heir Imagawa Ujizane nevertheless supported Oda and gave him expensive gifts several times and went with him to fight the Takeda. In 1561 his brother-in-law Saito Yoshitatsu died. Nobunaga began to conquer the western part of the province of Mino. In 1562 he concluded the so-called Kiyosu alliance with Matsudaira Motoyasu (later Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa or Edo-Shōgunate), a new warlord in Mikawa province.

In 1564 he conquered the eastern part of Mino province. Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiteru was assassinated in 1565. The conquest of the entire province of Mino was completed in 1567. In that year his sister Ichi also married. This marriage linked his family to the warlord Azai Nagamasa, who ruled Ōmi Province (now Shiga Prefecture) at the time. His first son Nobutada married a daughter of the Takeda family, who then ruled the provinces of Kai (now Yamanashi Prefecture) and Shinano (now Nagano Prefecture). Also in 1567 came the political slogan Tenka Fubu, conquest by military and the new economic policy of Rakuichi rakuza (see below).

Responding to the request of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the 15th and last Shōgun of the Ashikaga Shōgunate, Nobunaga conquered Kyōto and another five provinces in the Kinki area in 1568. In 1569, the Portuguese missionary Luís Fróis, a member of the Society of Jesus, received an audience with Nobunaga and was granted a residence permit in Kyōto. That same year, Nobunaga conquered the province of Ise (now Mie Prefecture). In 1570 Nobunaga demanded restrictions on the right of the Shōgunate from Ashikaga Yoshiaki and invited other warlords to visit Kyōto. He began the conquest of Wakasa Province (now the western part of Fukui Prefecture), which was then ruled by Asakura Yoshikage, who had rejected his demands. This led to conflict with his brother-in-law Azai Nagamasa, as the Azai family had long been on friendly terms with the Asakura family. In the Battle of Anegawa (Anegawa no tatakai), Nobunaga, with the help of Tokugawa Ieyasu, defeated the Azai and Asakura alliance.

The Buddhist Ikkō sect (better known today as Jōdo-Shinshū) began to rebel against Nobunaga. At this point, Buddhism had great political power in Japan. The Ikkō sect initially attempted to ally itself with Nobunaga, as they judged only him to be the new lord of Kyōto. Nobunaga was a Buddhist, but he tried to enforce the separation of religion and state. Therefore, he allowed the introduction of Christianity and had the representatives of both sides, Buddhists and Jesuits, discuss in order to achieve his political goal. Nobunaga was not the only one who felt that the missionaries usually won these debates. As a result, Buddhism lost the trust of the government and the people, which led to the loss of their political power. Therefore, the Ikkō sect was afraid of Nobunaga's success because they could lose their political power completely if he united Japan. The attack on the Ikkō sect at Nagashima Castle in 1571 was a failure. Another battle ensued against the Azai-Ikkō alliance and Nobutada burned down the Enryaku-ji temple.

1572 saw the invasion of the northern part of Ōmi Province, Nobutada's first battle. Takeda Shingen invaded the province of Tōtōmi. At the Battle of Mikatagahara, Takeda Shingen defeated Tokugawa Ieyasu. Takeda Shingen died in 1573, the same year there was an uprising by Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki. It failed and Nobunaga expelled Yoshiaki from Kyōto; thus the Ashikaga Shōgunate perished. With the fall of the Ashikaga-Shōgunate, the so-called Azuchi-Momoyama period (in Japanese, Azuchi-Momoyama jidai) began. Nobunaga had finally ruined the Azai and Asakura families.

The Invasion of the Chūgoku Area in Western Japan - 1574 to 1582

In 1574, an invasion was made by Takeda Katsuyori, son of Takeda Shingen. Nobunaga attacked Nagashima Castle, which was occupied by the Ikko sect. He had the castle burned down and 20,000 guerrilla fighters perished in the fire. The Battle of Nagashino took place in 1575. Due to the use of arquebus riflemen protected behind palisades, the alliance of Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the Takeda clan. It is said that about 3000 rifles were used. The imperial family recommended that Nobunaga be made "minister to the right." His first son Nobutada was given the rights of the head of the family. Since then Nobunaga concentrated only on the unification of Japan.

In 1576, he ordered the construction of Azuchi Castle. He attacked the Hongan-ji temple, the center of power of the Jōdo-Shinshū. In the same year, he rose to the position of minister of the interior.

In 1577, he ordered the invasion of Kii Province (now Wakayama Prefecture). Likewise, he ordered Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) to attack Kaga Province (now Ishikawa) and invade Harima Province (now Hyōgo Prefecture). He rose to the position of "minister to the right." In 1578, the new construction of Azuchi Castle was completed, which was the first castle in Japan to incorporate Western architectural elements. It was inaugurated with a tea ceremony.

After the uprising of Bessho Nagaharu in Miki Castle, Oda resigned as minister to the right. The Araki Murashige rebellion, the siege of Yagami Castle, and the naval battle of Kizukawaguchi occurred. In 1579 he began the invasion of Settsu Province (now part of Osaka Prefecture), which ended with the surrender of Yagami Castle. The leading warlords, Hatano Hideharu and Hatano Hidenao, were executed on the cross. Araki surrendered and fled to the Mōri family. In 1580, Bessho Nagaharu surrendered. He committed seppuku; all other participants in the revolt were forgiven. Peace was concluded with the Ikko sect. In 1581 Nobunaga received another visit from a missionary, Alessandro Valignano. He conquered the province of Iga (now part of Mie Prefecture). One of his most important vassals, Hashiba Hideyoshi, conquered Tottori Castle in Inaba Province (now Tottori Prefecture). In 1582 he conquered the provinces of Shinano and Kai. The Takeda family perished; none of its members survived.

In the same year, one of his generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, took the opportunity to take revenge on Oda Nobunaga for an earlier insult. During a banquet, Oda, in a drunken state, had tucked Akechi's head under his arm and beaten it like a drum with a fan. When Oda was in the temple of Honnō-ji at Kyōto, Akechi brought the latter to his control in a surprise attack. To avoid falling into his opponent's hands alive, Oda, who had been severely wounded by arrows, committed seppuku. Toyotomi Hideyoshi then initially made peace with the Mōri and pursued Akechi. Just 13 days after Oda's death, he defeated him devastatingly at the Battle of Yamazaki (near Kyōto). Mitsuhide fled, but was killed in flight. After this victory, Hideyoshi assumed guardianship of Nobunaga's year-old grandson and succeeded Nobunaga as the empire's strongest commander in several battles.

Descendants

• Oda Nobutada (* 1557; † 1582)
• Oda Nobukatsu (* 1558; † 1630)
• Oda Nobutaka (* 1558; † 1583)
• Tokuhime (* 1559; † 1636)

Rakuichi rakuza

Very early on Nobunaga understood the importance of the economy and that the economic profit of the guilds (za) was monopolized. He considered this a major problem as he wanted to form a centralized government and activate the economy. Nobunaga therefore abolished the privileged guilds and monopoly. He also protected trade through tax exemptions and new interest laws so that people could trade freely. This policy of economic liberalization was called Rakuichi rakuza (楽市楽座 'free markets, free/open guilds').

Talent promotion

Nobunaga revolutionized the extremely strict social order, which was comparable to a caste system. Those who came from low social classes had no chance of advancement and had to submit to their fate determined by birth. Nobunaga broke this rigid tradition by introducing talent promotion. The more his vassals performed, the higher positions were attainable for them. Toyotomi Hideyoshi or Akechi Mitsuhide are good examples of this.

introduction of professional soldiering

Until the middle of the 16th century, there were no professional soldiers in Japan besides the samurai; in particular, the large number of foot soldiers was recruited from the ranks of the peasants. Therefore, during the farming season, fighting had to rest. By collecting trading capital, Nobunaga managed to separate the soldiers from the peasants and mobilize them at any time, which gave his army greater striking power.

European culture and Christianity

In August 1543, a ship stranded near the island of Tanegashima with three Portuguese sailors on board, among them Fernão Mendes Pinto. As far as is known, these were the first visitors from the West to reach Japan. They were called Namban-jin, barbarians from the south, by the Japanese. They brought the first handguns (matchlock rifles) to Japan, among other things unknown and thus interesting to the Japanese. The importation and use of these firearms had a lasting impact on traditional warfare in Japan and, consequently, on the course of Japanese history. Nobunaga is said to have been very impressed with this Western technology, readily adopted it, and quickly introduced it into his army for his own benefit. He was the first commander to employ massive use of firearms in a form of combat previously unknown to the Japanese - but also perceived as dishonorable. This is considered the beginning of the material and cultural exchange between Japan and Europe.

In 1549, the first missionary, Francisco de Xavier, arrived in Kagoshima with two Portuguese Jesuits, two servants and three Japanese. He opened Japan to the influence of Western culture and science. In addition to the teachings of the Bible, the Jesuits, and later the Dominicans and Franciscans, saw Western scholarship as an excellent means of spreading Catholicism. The care of the sick and wounded also brought some relief to the population in a country ravaged by fierce warfare. But the Jesuits soon withdrew from these activities.

Nobunaga, who was suspicious of Buddhism because of the power of the monasteries and its influence on politics, welcomed the Jesuits as a counterweight. He allowed the first missionary campaigns for Christianity, protected the missionaries of the Society of Jesus and allowed them to build a theological seminary (Seminario). Through this strategy, Nobunaga succeeded in limiting the secular authority of Buddhism and separating politics from religion.

Later, however, Nobunaga's initially positive attitude towards Christianity became more reserved. Thus he himself did not want to convert, but to be worshipped as a deity after his death, which would not have been compatible with Christian doctrine. Furthermore, his actual sphere of power did not reach into the Christian-influenced areas of western Japan.

Medicine and nursing

Luís de Almeida (1525-1583), a Portuguese surgeon and merchant who entered the Jesuit order in Japan as a non-ordained friar, used the wealth he had acquired in trade for charitable purposes. Repelled by the growing practice of mabiki ('thinning out seedlings', i.e. getting rid of unwanted children by abortion, killing or abandonment) among the poor, he opened a home for foundlings in 1556. He was assisted by Ōtomo Yoshishige, the Shugo-Daimyō of Bungo, and at the end of the same year expanded his home to include a hospital (in Funai, now Ōita) where Western surgery and Sino-Japanese internal medicine were practiced. Lepers were also cared for here. Herbs and medicines were partly imported from Macau and partly collected or purchased locally. This was the first hospital in Japan in which western therapies were also used. However, it was already destroyed in 1587 by troops from Satsuma.

Within the Order there was soon strong opposition to de Almeida's medical, especially surgical, activities, though unlike the ordained Fathers he was not bound by the Church's basic course of abstaining from this bloody craft. Nevertheless, he had to leave the hospital after only one year. The care of the sick and elderly continued, but remained the responsibility of non-ordained Japanese friars (irmaõs) and helpers. The predominantly Spanish Franciscans and Dominicans who came to Japan towards the end of the century, on the other hand, saw this as a focus of their activities.

Towards the end of the 16th century, pressure on Christians increased, culminating in the persecution and expulsion of all Spaniards and Portuguese and the complete sealing off of the country against all foreigners in 1639. With the destruction of the hospital at Funai and the increasingly severe persecution of Christianity, medical exchanges had effectively collapsed. A few new remedies remained, such as the use of olive oil, animal fat, tobacco (from America), and the wound chewer. The formation of a Western paradigm did not occur until after the beginning of continuous medical contacts through the surgeons and physicians of the Dutch East India Company.