Who Is Oda Nobunaga (Oda Kazusa-no-suke)?
The revolutionary warlord who set out to unify Japan
Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) was a samurai warlord of the Sengoku period from Owari Province (today's western Aichi Prefecture). As a young man, his odd clothes and wild behavior earned him the nickname "the Great Fool." He later defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto at the Battle of Okehazama and opened the road toward unifying Japan. In 1582, however, his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide turned against him, and he died in the Honnō-ji Incident.
In this series, Nobunaga is the main character of Episodes 1 and 2. In Episode 1, he meets his father-in-law Saito Dosan at Shōtoku-ji temple. He travels there in his usual wild outfit, but surprises everyone by changing into formal dress for the meeting. In Episode 2, on the night before the huge Imagawa army arrives, he goes to sleep without sharing any plan. At dawn he performs the famous "Fifty years of human life" passage from the kōwakamai dance Atsumori, rides out to battle, and kills Yoshimoto at Okehazama.
The most detailed record of Nobunaga's life is the Shinchō Kōki (The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga), written by his retainer Ota Gyuichi. Episodes 1 and 2 of this series are based mainly on that chronicle.
Episodes featuring this character3
NEWEpisode 1
The Day the Viper Stopped LaughingNobunaga Meets Saitō Dōsan at Shōtoku-ji
Young Nobunaga is the laughingstock of the land—"the Big Fool." Saito Dosan, the old warlord they call the Viper, married his daughter off to him, and now he wants to see the groom with his own eyes. One peek at the procession from a roadside hut, and one quick change behind a temple folding screen, wipe the smile right off the old man's face.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
45,000 Were Coming. Nobunaga Went to Sleep.Battle of Okehazama
On the night an army of 45,000 closes in, 27-year-old Oda Nobunaga ignores his retainers' pleas to hold the castle, makes small talk about swallows, and goes to bed. At dawn he dances "Fifty years of a man's life" and bolts from the castle. Past retainers trying to stop him and allies falling in battle, he pushes forward—and in the instant the storm breaks, he shouts: "Charge!"
19 pages
NEWEpisode 5
Hold the Castle Until Dawn. Alone.The Kanegasaki Retreat
Two castles in two days have the camp celebrating, until word comes that family has switched sides, and the army is trapped front and back in an instant. Lord Nobunaga decides to escape through the mountains. The man left behind in the empty castle is Tokichiro, a small soldier who only ever wanted his lord to learn his name.
19 pages