08/04/2018
Oda Nobuhide died on This Day, April 8, 1551
Known as the Tiger of Owari. Nobuhide was a warlord, magistrate and Buddhist monk, head of the powerful Oda clan that ruled much of Owari Province and father of Oda Nobunaga. Nobuhide was unable to completely control Owari, as internal fighting between various members of the Oda clan prevented this.
Nobuhide faced Saito Dosan to his north, and Imagawa Yoshimoto, ruler of Mikawa, (modern–day eastern Aichi Prefecture) Suruga and Totomi (Shizuoka Prefecture) to his east.
Nobuhide took Nagoya Castle from the Imagawa in 1532, soon after relocating from Shobata Castle to the centrally located Nagoya. He saw action in the Battle of Anjo Castle (1540), he defeated the forces of Imagawa Yoshimoto in the First Battle of Azukizaka (1542), fought in The Attack of Mino (1544) , the Siege of Yasuyoshi Castle (1545), Attack on Mikawa (1547), Siege of Inabayama Castle (1547) the Battle of Kanoguchi (1547), Battle of Ogaki (1547), Battle of Furuwatari (1547), the Battle of Okazaki (1547). Nobuhide was defeated when he faced 10,000 Imagawa Yoshimoto troops with just 4,000 of his own men in the Second Battle of Azukizaka (1548), and led his men in the Battle of Kasugaihara in 1549.
In November 1547, Nobuhide faced Saito Dosan in the Battle of Kanoguchi, in what is now the southern districts of Gifu City. This battle saw Nobuhide lose some 5,000 men, including two close relatives. This battle served only to increase the reputation of Saito Dosan.
Nobuhidemade peace with the Saito clan by arranging a political marriage between his son, Nobunaga, and Dosan’s daughter, Kicho (Nohime). With the Saito clan’s support, Nobuhide was able to concentrate his efforts against the Imagawa clan. In 1548, he had the 5-year old Tokugawa Ieyasu brought as a hostage and kept the future sh**un at his castle in Nagoya and at a fortress house south of Atsuta Shrine.
Nobuhide died April 8, 1551 aged just 41 of a short illness. His heir, Nobunaga, hardly knew his father, and turned up late and inappropriately dressed for the funeral, and threw incense at the alter, upsetting the clan.
Nobuhide’s remains were interred in the Bansho-ji temple, which originally stood about 100 meters west of the Sakura Dori, Otsu Dori intersection in downtown Nagoya City. The temple, and Nobuhide’s grave were moved to the current Osu area of Nagoya in 1610 on the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu during construction of Nagoya Castle. The Bansho-ji, like much of Nagoya, was destroyed in the repeated heavy firebombing of WWII, and although Nobuhide’s grave markers were restored, (photo) his remains were lost.
