Oda Nobutada (1557 – June 21, 1582) was a samurai and the eldest son of Oda Nobunaga, known for his active role in several battles during Japan's Sengoku period. He led armies under his father's command in campaigns against Matsunaga Hisahide and the Takeda clan.
Born around 1557 in Owari Province, Nobutada was the eldest son of Nobunaga (although there are theories about an older brother, Oda Nobumasa). His nanny was Jotoku-In, the daughter of Takigawa Kazumasu, a senior vassal of Nobunaga. There is also speculation that Nobutada was adopted by Nohime, Nobunaga’s wife. His childhood name was Kimyo-Maru, which means "strange" in Japanese. He initially took the name Oda Kankuro Nobushige before later changing it to Nobutada.
During the Eiroku era, the Oda clan formed an alliance with the Takeda clan through a marriage agreement between Nobutada and Matsuhime, the sixth daughter of Takeda Shingen. This strengthened the connection between the Oda and Takeda families. However, after Takeda Shingen began attacking Tokugawa Ieyasu’s lands, an ally of Oda, the alliance deteriorated. The engagement was eventually canceled following Shingen's death, contributing to the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate in 1573.
Nobutada served Nobunaga in various battles, including the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, the Siege of Iwamura Castle in 1574, and the attack on Ise Nagashima. In 1577, he achieved a significant victory by defeating Matsunaga Hisahide in the Siege of Shigisan. He also led the Siege of Takato in 1582, defeating Nishina Morinobu, a commander of the Takeda clan.
At the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, Nobutada began his career as a supreme commander, leading forces in various battles against the Takeda. His military successes earned him increasing responsibilities. Nobunaga entrusted Nobutada with controlling parts of eastern Mino and Owari provinces, and he became more prominent within the Oda clan’s hierarchy, receiving prestigious ranks and titles.
In 1582, Nobutada led a large force of 50,000 troops in the conquest of Kai Province, where he captured key Takeda strongholds such as Takato Castle. His rapid advance forced Takeda Katsuyori to retreat and ultimately commit seppuku, marking the end of the Takeda clan. After this victory, Nobunaga praised Nobutada and gifted him a sword, signaling Nobutada’s role as his intended successor.
However, in June 1582, Nobutada's fate took a tragic turn when Akechi Mitsuhide, one of Nobunaga's generals, launched a surprise attack on Nobunaga at Honno-ji in Kyoto. While Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide, Nobutada, staying nearby, was also attacked by Akechi’s forces and followed his father in committing seppuku.
See also
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Hattori Hanzo
Hattori Hanzō, also known by the name Hattori Masanari, was the third son of Hattori Yasunaga, a samurai who served the Matsudaira clan. In his childhood he was called Tigachi Hanzō. His father held the highest rank in the shinobi hierarchy, that of jōnin, and Hanzō followed in his father’s footsteps, choosing the same path.
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Hatano Hideharu
Hatano Hideharu was the eldest son of Hatano Harumichi, the head of the Hatano clan. However, in childhood he was adopted by his uncle, Hatano Motohide, and was therefore formally regarded as Motohide’s heir. From the time of Hideharu’s grandfather, Hatano Tanemichi, the Hatano clan had been a vassal of the powerful Miyoshi house, which exerted considerable influence over the Ashikaga shoguns and effectively shaped the political situation in the region. Early in his career, Hideharu served Miyoshi Nagayoshi and, judging by surviving records, held a fairly high position within his lord’s hierarchy, as he was among the select group invited to the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Ōgimachi in 1557.
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Fukushima Masanori
Fukushima Masanori, a samurai from Owari Province, served Toyotomi Hideyoshi and took part in the Battle of Shizugatake, where he distinguished himself so conspicuously that he was awarded the honorary title of one of the “Seven Spears of Shizugatake,” meaning the warriors who had shown the greatest valor in the battle. As a reward for his courage and martial prowess, he was granted land producing an income of 5,000 koku of rice.
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Uemura Masakatsu
Masakatsu was a member of the Uemura clan and the son of Uemura Masatada; from an early age he served Tokugawa Ieyasu. During the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa Province in 1563, having converted from the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist sect to the Jōdoshū sect, he took part in suppressing the rebels. After these events, Masakatsu was appointed a military governor and was granted land holdings. According to a number of sources, he was one of the so-called “Three Governors of Mikawa” (Mikawa sanbugyō), together with Amano Yasukage (1537–1613) and Koriki Kiyonaga (1530–1608).
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Tomoe Gozen
Gozen is regarded as one of the few historically documented examples of true female warriors of feudal Japan, known as onna-musha or onna-bugeisha. Although Japanese history records countless women who at various times were forced to take up arms—for example, in defense of their castles—Tomoe Gozen was, without any doubt, a genuinely skilled and accomplished fighter. She was the wife of Kiso (Minamoto) Yoshinaka, although The Tale of the Heike describes her more as a female vassal. Yoshinaka rose in rebellion against the Taira clan and, in 1184, captured Kyoto after his victory at the Battle of Kurikawa. After the Taira were driven into the western provinces, Yoshinaka began insistently asserting that he alone was worthy of assuming leadership of the Minamoto clan and taking on the mantle of its head.
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Tachibana Muneshige
Tachibana Muneshige was born the eldest son of Takahashi Shigetane, one of the principal retainers of the Ōtomo clan and commander of Iwaya Castle. In childhood, he bore the name Senkumamaru. His early years coincided with a period of intense military confrontation between the Ōtomo clan and other powerful warrior houses of Kyūshū—namely the Shimazu, Akizuki, and Ryūzōji clans.
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Tachibana Dosetsu
Tachibana Dōsetsu is the name by which Hetsugi Akitsura is more widely known; the name of this lineage is also found read as Hekki or Bekki. For a long period, Akitsura served the Ōtomo clan, the daimyō of Bungo Province, and took part in wars against the Ōuchi family, the principal enemies of the Ōtomo in northwestern Kyushu. In the 1560s, Akitsura seized the castle of the Tachibana clan, which had rebelled against the Ōtomo, and thereafter adopted the surname Tachibana. Around the same time, he took Buddhist vows and assumed the name Dōsetsu, which means “Snowy Road.”
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Taira no Masakado
Taira no Masakado embodied the quintessential samurai of his era—self-assured, harsh, and unyielding. In his youth, he served in the palace guard and repeatedly proved his bravery while suppressing unrest. Thanks to these achievements, Masakado sought the post of chief of the capital’s military-police office (the kebiishi-chō), but he was rejected: by that time, nearly all court positions—now little more than privileged sinecures—were controlled by members of the powerful Fujiwara clan.
