Oda Nobuhide

Oda Nobuhide (織田 信秀, 1510-April 21, 1551) was a daimyo of Owari province in Japan during the Sengoku period. At the imperial court, he had the title of Danjō-no-jō (弾正允). He is the father of the famous Oda Nobunaga.

Oda Nobuhide Biography

Although head of the Oda clan, Nobuhide never completely united the Owari province but was involved in open wars as he was attacked in the north by Saitō Dōsan, daimyo of Mino province, and in the east by Yoshimoto Imagawa, daimyo of Mikawa, Suruga and Totomi provinces.

Although he managed to repel each of his opponents, constant internal struggles within the Oda clan prevented him from achieving complete victory. In 1549, Oda Nobuhide made peace with Saitō Dōsan by arranging a political marriage between his son Nobunaga and Saito's daughter.

With Saitō Dōsan's support, Nobuhide focused on confronting Imagawa. In one of his moments of glory, he arranges to take Matsudaira Motoyasu hostage on his way to Imagawa's domain. Thanks to this, he managed to advance in the province of Mikawa.

Nobuhide died suddenly in 1551, and appointed the young Nobunaga to succeed him as the head of the Oda clan and his small estate.

Nobunaga, who barely knew his father and had already earned a reputation as a delinquent, arrived inappropriately dressed at Nobuhide's funeral and threw incense on the temple altar cursing his fate.

Almost all the support he could have gotten from his father's vassals goes to his younger brother Oda Nobuyuki, leaving Nobunaga with Masahide Hiratte and his father-in-law Saitō Dōsan whom he has never met before.

From this point on, it would take Nobunaga seven long years to consolidate his power within the clan and finally unite the province of Owari.