Oda Nobunaga by Neil Horton

A portrait of Oda Nobunaga, by Jesuit painter Giovanni Niccolò, 1583–1590.
Oda Clan MonIn 1549 a teenage Oda Nobunaga outfitted 500 soldiers with matchlock muskets. Although the Portuguese had introduced firearms to Japan in 1543, Nobunaga revolutionized Japanese warfare by being the first to use them during war. He proved his genius in 1575 at Nagashino Castle, where he rotated lines of musketeers to produce continuous volleys.ODA NOBUNAGA

Nobunaga was head of the powerful Oda clan of Owari Province and launched a war against other samurai to unify Japan in the 1560s. Nobunaga emerged as the most powerful daimyō in Japan, overthrowing the nominally ruling shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and dissolved the Ashikaga Shogunate in 1573, conquering most of Honshu and defeating the Ikkō-ikki rebels by the 1580s. 

Nobunaga's rule was noted for innovative military tactics, fostering free trade, reform of Japan's civil government, and encouraging the start of the Momoyama historical art period, but also the brutal suppression of opponents, eliminating those who refused to cooperate or yield to his demands. Nobunaga was killed in the Honno-ji Incident in 1582 when his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide ambushed him in Kyoto and compelled him to commit forced suicide. Nobunaga was succeeded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi who completed his war of unification shortly afterwards.


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