April 9, 1584.
In Nagakute, in the eastern part of Owari, the forces of Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi were defeated by Tokugawa Ieyasu’s army.
Ikeda Tsuneoki, Ikeda Mototsuke, and Mori Nagayoshi were killed in action. It is said that Hideyoshi’s side lost about 2,500 men.
This was the most famous battle of the Komaki-Nagakute Campaign.
Today, it is known as the “Battle between Hideyoshi and Ieyasu,” but there was another man who played a direct role in starting this war.
Oda Nobukatsu.
He was the second son of Oda Nobunaga.
The relationship between Nobukatsu and Hideyoshi broke down, and when Nobukatsu allied with Ieyasu, a great war for control of Japan after Nobunaga’s death began.
However, seven months after Ieyasu’s victory at Nagakute, Nobukatsu made peace with Hideyoshi without Ieyasu’s consent.
Nobukatsu had many such failures and actions that seemed inexplicable.
He attacked Iga without his father’s permission and suffered a major defeat.
After the Incident at Honnoji, he quarreled with his brother, Nobutaka.
He fought against Hideyoshi, only to make peace, and in 1590, he refused a transfer and lost his lands.
There are many reasons why he is remembered by later generations as “the incompetent second son of Nobunaga.”
Yet, Nobukatsu did not disappear.
Even after Nobunaga’s death, defeat by Hideyoshi, and being stripped of his rank, he survived, and after the fall of the Toyotomi family, he was once again granted over 50,000 koku.
He lived until 1630.
Forty-eight years after Nobunaga’s death, during the era of Tokugawa Iemitsu.
Despite repeated failures, the second son of Nobunaga lived through the Sengoku to the Edo period.
We will follow the 72 years of Oda Nobukatsu’s life.
1558—Born as the Second Son of Oda Nobunaga
Oda Nobukatsu was born in 1558 as the second son of Oda Nobunaga.
His childhood name was Chasenmaru.
His mother is said to be Ikoma Kitsuno, and his full brother was Oda Nobutada.
When Nobukatsu was born, Nobunaga was still in the process of unifying Owari.
In 1560, he defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto at the Battle of Okehazama, and by 1567, he had conquered Mino. The following year, in 1568, he entered Kyoto with Ashikaga Yoshiaki.
Nobukatsu’s childhood coincided with the period when his father expanded his influence from a local lord in Owari to the Kinai region.
The heir, Nobutada, was raised as the successor to the Oda family itself.
The second son, Nobukatsu, was given a different role.
The stage for these events was set in Ise.
1569—Entering the Prestigious Kitabatake Family
In the southern part of Ise, the Kitabatake clan had established a significant power base.
The Kitabatake clan, descended from the Murakami Genji, had been the governors of Ise since the Nanboku-cho period, ruling over southern Ise as a distinguished family.
The central figures at the time were Kitabatake Tomonori and his son, Tomofusa.
In 1569, Oda Nobunaga attacked Okawachi Castle, the stronghold of the Kitabatake clan.
After the battle at Okawachi Castle, a peace agreement was reached between Nobunaga and the Kitabatake clan.
One of the conditions was that Nobunaga’s second son, Chasenmaru, would be adopted by Kitabatake Tomofusa.
He took on the name Kitabatake Nobukatsu.
A young member of the Oda family was brought into the Kitabatake family to inherit its leadership.
Nobunaga’s control over Ise was advanced not only through military might but also through strategic adoption.
In 1575, Nobukatsu inherited the leadership of the Kitabatake family.
He was still in his teens.
1576—The Death of Kitabatake Tomonori
Even after Nobukatsu took over, the old Kitabatake clan’s influence remained.
The retired Kitabatake Tomonori was living at the Misedate residence.
In November 1576,
a large-scale purge against the Kitabatake family took place.
Assassins were sent to Misedate, where Tomonori was killed.
Members of the Kitabatake family were also killed at places like Tamaru Castle.
This was known as the “Mise Incident.”
This purge of the Kitabatake clan was carried out to complete Nobunaga’s control over Ise, and it is said that the assassination of Tomonori was executed by assassins sent by Nobukatsu.
Once adopted into the family, Nobukatsu now stood on the side of eliminating his adoptive family.
The era of the Kitabatake clan, which had ruled southern Ise since the Nanboku-cho period, came to an end, and control of Ise shifted to the Oda clan.
Eventually, Nobukatsu would abandon the Kitabatake name and return to the Oda name.
1579—Invading Iga with 8,000 Troops
There is an unavoidable failure in Nobukatsu’s life story.
This was the First Tensho Iga War in 1579.
In Iga, located west of Ise, local warriors and land samurai had formed alliances, maintaining their own regional control.
Seeking to expand his influence into Iga, Nobukatsu launched a military campaign without his father Nobunaga’s permission.
The force numbered about 8,000.
Nobukatsu’s army invaded Iga from multiple directions.
However, the Iga side used the mountainous terrain to resist.
In unfamiliar territory, Nobukatsu’s forces struggled and lost key retainers like Tsuge Yasushige.
Nobukatsu’s army retreated to Ise.
It was a complete defeat.
Upon hearing this news, Nobunaga was furious.
The “Shinchokoki” records that Nobunaga severely reprimanded Nobukatsu for his actions.
Nobukatsu moved his troops without fully understanding the terrain of Iga or the enemy’s strength, resulting in the loss of many soldiers and key retainers.
The young Nobukatsu’s military leadership was still quite inexperienced.
1581—This Time Nobunaga Attacks Iga
Two years after the first Iga campaign.
In 1581, Nobunaga launched a large-scale invasion of Iga.
This time, it was not Nobukatsu acting on his own.
It was a military operation involving the entire Oda clan.
Led by Nobukatsu, various generals of the Oda clan advanced into Iga from multiple directions.
Some records estimate their forces at around 50,000.
The Iga side, which had repelled Nobukatsu’s 8,000 troops in 1579, found it difficult to contend with such a massive army.
Fierce battles continued at various castles and settlements, gradually cornering the Iga forces.
Iga was subdued by the Oda forces.
Nobukatsu gained control of the three districts of Iga.
The failed Iga campaign by Nobukatsu in 1579 was realized two years later when his father, Nobunaga, deployed the Oda clan’s military might on a large scale.
However, the following year,
an event shook the very foundation of the Oda clan.
1582—The Incident at Honnoji
June 2, 1582.
Akechi Mitsuhide attacked Honnoji in Kyoto.
Nobunaga took his own life.
His heir, Nobutada, also committed suicide at Nijo Palace.
Nobukatsu lost both his father and brother simultaneously.
With Nobutada, who was supposed to lead the Oda clan as Nobunaga’s successor, also dead, the succession crisis within the Oda clan quickly escalated into chaos.
Nobukatsu advanced his forces toward Omi, but he did not arrive in time for the decisive battle against Mitsuhide.
June 13.
It was Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, who had returned to the Kinai region at an astonishing speed from Bitchu Takamatsu Castle, who defeated Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki.
This victory allowed Hideyoshi to gain significant influence within the Oda clan as the avenger of Nobunaga.
From this point on, Nobukatsu’s life would be greatly influenced by his relationship with Hideyoshi.
Was It Nobukatsu Who Burned Azuchi Castle?
After the Incident at Honnō-ji, the tenshu and main keep of Azuchi Castle, built by Nobunaga, were engulfed in flames.
In later generations, a widely known story emerged that “Nobukatsu set Azuchi Castle on fire.”
This account is also recorded in the writings of the missionary Luís Fróis, who noted that Nobukatsu burned Azuchi Castle.
This tale has been repeatedly told as an anecdote illustrating Nobukatsu’s foolishness, often linked to the failure of the first Iga Campaign.
However, current investigations by Shiga Prefecture into Azuchi Castle suggest that the theory of Nobukatsu’s arson does not hold.
The main compound of Azuchi Castle caught fire from the night of June 14th to the early hours of the 15th.
At that time, Nobukatsu was not present in Azuchi.
Excavations have not confirmed any traces supporting the theory that the fire spread from the castle town.
There are other theories about who set Azuchi Castle ablaze, such as the arson theory involving Akechi Hidemitsu, but the exact cause of the fire remains undetermined.
At the very least, the story that Nobukatsu burned Azuchi Castle cannot be treated as historical fact.
Nobukatsu did indeed have many significant failures.
Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between the evaluations added by later generations and the actions that can be verified.
The Kiyosu Conference—Nobukatsu Could Not Become Nobunaga’s Successor
In June 1582, shortly after the Incident at Honnō-ji.
The senior retainers of the Oda clan gathered at Kiyosu Castle.
This was the Kiyosu Conference.
Both Nobunaga and his heir Nobutada had died.
As the adult sons of Nobunaga, Nobukatsu and Nobutaka naturally became involved in the succession issue of the Oda clan.
However, neither Nobukatsu nor Nobutaka succeeded to the headship of the Oda clan.
It was Nobutada’s young son, Sanpōshi, who inherited the position.
Nobukatsu received Owari, which had been his brother Nobutada’s domain.
At this point, Nobukatsu did not immediately control all of Owari, Ise, and Iga.
In the following year, 1583, when Takigawa Kazumasu and his brother Nobutaka fell from power, their former domains also came under Nobukatsu’s control.
Thus, Nobukatsu became a daimyo ruling Owari, five districts of Ise, and three districts of Iga.
Although Nobunaga’s realm collapsed due to the Incident at Honnō-ji, Nobukatsu’s own power actually increased.
Conflict with His Brother Nobutaka
After the Kiyosu Conference, tensions within the Oda clan escalated between Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie.
Nobukatsu allied with Hideyoshi.
His brother Nobutaka allied with Katsuie.
The conflict between Nobunaga’s sons overlapped with the power struggle among the senior retainers of the Oda clan.
April 1583.
In the Battle of Shizugatake, Hideyoshi defeated Shibata Katsuie.
Katsuie retreated to Kitanosho Castle and committed suicide with his wife, Oichi.
Nobukatsu, left without support, found himself cornered.
Nobuo attacked Nobukatsu, and in May of the same year, Nobukatsu took his own life in Noma, Owari.
It had been just one year since the Incident at Honnoji.
Nobunaga’s legitimate son, Nobutada, was already dead, and now his third son, Nobukatsu, was gone too.
Among Nobunaga’s surviving sons, Nobuo’s presence grew more significant.
However, Hideyoshi, who had allied with Nobuo to defeat Nobukatsu, was also rising beyond his role as a mere Oda retainer.
The next conflict was set to be between Nobuo and Hideyoshi.
1584—The Break Between Nobuo and Hideyoshi
In 1584.
Among Nobuo’s retainers, some began to approach Hideyoshi.
Nobuo suspected that Tsugawa Yoshifuyu, Okada Shigetaka, and Asai Nagatoki had colluded with Hideyoshi and had them killed.
This happened in March.
The relationship between Nobuo and Hideyoshi irreparably broke down.
Nobuo turned to Tokugawa Ieyasu for support.
Since the 1560s, Ieyasu had been allied with Nobunaga, fighting alongside the Oda family for many years.
Nobuo and Ieyasu formed an alliance.
Hideyoshi also mobilized a large army.
Thus began the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute.
Komaki and Nagakute—Nobunaga’s Second Son Faces Hideyoshi
The Battle of Komaki and Nagakute is known as a confrontation between “Hideyoshi and Ieyasu.”
In reality, the central figure who faced Hideyoshi’s forces on the battlefield was Ieyasu.
However, the political conflict leading to the outbreak of war centered around Nobuo.
Hideyoshi’s forces numbered around 100,000.
Ieyasu and Nobuo’s forces are said to have mobilized around 16,000 to 17,000.
Ieyasu and Nobuo’s forces set up camp around Mount Komaki, confronting Hideyoshi’s forces.
In March, Mori Nagayoshi was defeated at Haguro.
Recognizing the difficulty of defeating Ieyasu head-on, Hideyoshi’s forces devised a strategy to attack Ieyasu’s home province of Mikawa.
With Hashiba Hideyoshi’s nephew, Hideyoshi, as the commander, Ikeda Tsuneoki and Mori Nagayoshi advanced through the eastern part of Owari.
However, their movements were detected by Ieyasu’s side.
On April 9th,
the two armies clashed near Nagakute.
Hideyoshi’s forces crumbled under the attack from Ieyasu’s army.
Ikeda Tsuneoki, his heir Ikeda Motosuke, and Mori Nagayoshi were killed in action.
It is said that Hideyoshi’s forces suffered losses amounting to around 2,500 men.
The battle at Nagakute was a complete victory for Ieyasu’s side.
However, the war as a whole did not end.
Hideyoshi had the power to mobilize an army said to number around 100,000.
Even though Ieyasu won at Nagakute, he could not bring about the collapse of Hideyoshi’s overall power.
The conflict dragged on.
One of the regions that became a battlefield was Nobukatsu’s own domain.
Nobukatsu’s Domain is Eroded
After his defeat at Nagakute, Hideyoshi did not fixate solely on defeating Ieyasu head-on.
He expanded the front lines, putting pressure on Nobukatsu’s domain.
Fighting continued in Ise as well.
Nobukatsu’s retainers and castles increasingly came under pressure from Hideyoshi’s forces.
In the localized battle at Nagakute, Ieyasu emerged victorious.
In the overall war, however, Nobukatsu’s controlled regions were being eroded.
Here lay the difference in positions between Ieyasu and Nobukatsu.
Ieyasu had his own domain centered around Mikawa and Totomi.
In contrast, Nobukatsu, who was a direct party to the political conflict with Hideyoshi, found his own domain being attacked as a battlefield.
The longer the war dragged on, the greater the burden became for Nobukatsu.
Then came November 1584.
Nobukatsu chose to make peace with Hideyoshi.
November 11, 1584 — Making Peace with Hideyoshi Without Ieyasu’s Consent
On November 11.
Nobukatsu made a unilateral peace with Hideyoshi without Ieyasu’s consent.
Through this peace agreement, Nobukatsu ceded territories such as Iga and southern Ise.
Nevertheless, Nobukatsu retained his status as a daimyo.
This peace deal decisively altered the course of the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute.
The main reason Ieyasu fought against Hideyoshi was to support Nobukatsu.
Yet, Nobukatsu himself made peace with Hideyoshi.
Ieyasu lost the pretext to continue the war.
Ieyasu withdrew his troops to Hamamatsu and, by December, reached a peace agreement by adopting his second son, Ogimaru, later known as Yūki Hideyasu, as Hideyoshi’s adopted son.
In later years, Nobukatsu’s unilateral peace was criticized as “Ieyasu had won at Nagakute, but Nobukatsu independently reconciled with Hideyoshi.”
It is true that he made peace without Ieyasu’s consent.
On the other hand, Nobukatsu’s domain was under pressure from Hideyoshi’s forces, and the longer the war continued, the more territory he stood to lose.
Nobukatsu chose to cede part of his domain to preserve his position as a daimyo.
Living Under Hideyoshi’s Rule
After the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, Hideyoshi rapidly moved toward unifying the nation.
In 1585, he assumed the position of Kanpaku (Imperial Regent).
That same year, he pacified Shikoku, and by 1587, he had subdued Kyushu.
Nobukatsu was also integrated into Hideyoshi’s political order.
By 1585, he had risen to the rank of Gon-Dainagon, and by 1587, he became a Senior Second Rank Minister of the Interior.
Just a few years earlier, Nobukatsu had been fighting against Hideyoshi, yet now he held high office within the Toyotomi regime.
Right after the Incident at Honnōji, Nobukatsu was at the center of the struggle over Nobunaga’s succession, but the leadership of the nation had completely shifted to Hideyoshi.
Nevertheless, Nobukatsu maintained his domain as a daimyo.
He would lose this position in 1590.
1590 — Refusing Relocation and Losing Everything
In 1590.
Hideyoshi destroyed the Hōjō clan during the Siege of Odawara.
Ieyasu was ordered to relocate to the Kantō region, centered around the former Hōjō territories.
With Ieyasu’s departure from the Tōkai region, a large-scale reorganization of daimyo territories was planned.
Nobukatsu was also ordered to relocate to Ieyasu’s former territories.
Nobukatsu refused this.
Hideyoshi dismissed Nobukatsu.
Nobukatsu lost his domain and was exiled to Karasuyama in Shimotsuke Province.
Once a powerful figure in Owari, Ise, and Iga, and having fought alongside Ieyasu against Hideyoshi, Nobunaga’s second son lost all his lands.
At Komaki and Nagakute, Nobukatsu chose to remain as a daimyo even if it meant losing part of his domain, but this time, by refusing the order to relocate, he lost his position entirely.
Nobukatsu took Buddhist vows and adopted the name Jōshin.
He was around 32 years old at the time.
Despite Dismissal, Returns to Hideyoshi
Even after losing his lands, Nobukatsu did not vanish from history.
He was later pardoned and once again served close to Hideyoshi.
He became one of Hideyoshi’s attendants.
The man who once led large armies against Hideyoshi was now by his side.
It was a change of position typical of the Sengoku period.
Nobukatsu’s heir, Hideo, was granted Echizen Ono, preserving the Oda family line.
In 1598, Toyotomi Hideyoshi passed away.
Nobukatsu was 40 years old.
It had been 16 years since the Incident at Honnō-ji, where he lost his father, Nobunaga.
Having experienced conflict with his brother Nobutaka, the battles of Komaki and Nagakute, and his own dismissal, he now faced Hideyoshi’s death.
1600—The Battle of Sekigahara
Two years after Hideyoshi’s death.
In 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara occurred.
The Eastern Army, led by Tokugawa Ieyasu, clashed with the Western Army under Ishida Mitsunari and others.
Nobukatsu is said to have sided with Ieyasu and did not join the Western Army.
His heir, Hideo, held Echizen Ono, but lost his lands after the Battle of Sekigahara.
Nobukatsu himself did not regain his status as a daimyo at this time.
Yet, as the Tokugawa shogunate was established, Nobukatsu survived.
In 1603, Ieyasu became the shōgun and founded the Edo shogunate.
Tea, Poetry, and Drama—Another Side of Nobukatsu
Nobukatsu’s life was not solely defined by war and political strife.
In his later years, Nobukatsu also became known as a man of culture.
He learned the art of tea from his uncle, Oda Uraku, and was said to be versed in tea ceremony, poetry, and drama.
In his youth, Nobukatsu was marked by military failures, such as the failed Iga campaign and reprimands from his father.
However, even after losing his domain, Nobukatsu lived long enough to find significance in cultural pursuits and connections with the courtly society.
Nobukatsu lived through the era of the Sengoku daimyo, who survived by the sword, and into the period when order was established under the Tokugawa shogunate.
His long later life cannot be fully understood by looking only at his youthful military exploits.
1614—The Siege of Osaka
In 1614,
the conflict between the Tokugawa and Toyotomi clans escalated into the Winter Siege of Osaka.
The following year, in 1615, the Summer Siege of Osaka occurred.
Nobukatsu did not side with the Toyotomi; instead, he aligned himself with Ieyasu.
Back in 1584, Nobukatsu and Ieyasu had fought against Hideyoshi at Komaki and Nagakute.
Thirty years had passed since then.
Nobukatsu had once been Hideyoshi’s enemy, later served him, and after Hideyoshi’s death, he witnessed the rise of the Tokugawa era.
Then, in 1615,
Osaka Castle fell.
Toyotomi Hideyori and Yodo-dono perished, marking the end of the Toyotomi clan.
Nobukatsu lived to see the demise of the Toyotomi family, which Hideyoshi, who had once wrested control of the Oda clan from him, had built.
After the Siege of Osaka, Nobukatsu’s life took another significant turn.
1615—Restoration as a Daimyo After 25 Years
After the Siege of Osaka, Tokugawa Ieyasu granted Nobukatsu land.
He received over 50,000 koku in Uda District of Yamato Province and in Kozuke Province.
It had been 25 years since his lands were confiscated in 1590.
Nobukatsu once again became a daimyo.
In Yamato, he ruled over Uda Matsuyama.
In his youth, Nobukatsu succeeded the Kitabatake family and controlled Ise.
After the Incident at Honnoji, he held five districts in Owari and Ise, and three in Iga.
He lost all of this in 1590.
After 25 years, he regained land to establish his family as a daimyo house once more.
Nobukatsu was 57 years old.
His father, Nobunaga, had died 33 years earlier.
Hideyoshi had also passed away 17 years before.
And in the following year, 1616, Tokugawa Ieyasu would also die.
Nobukatsu outlived Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu.
1630—The Death of Nobunaga’s Second Son
On April 30, 1630,
Oda Nobukatsu passed away.
He was 73 years old.
When Nobukatsu was born in 1558, his father, Nobunaga, was still fighting in Owari.
In 1630, the year he died, Tokugawa Iemitsu was ruling the Edo Shogunate as the third shogun.
During his 72-year life, the political center of Japan underwent significant changes.
Oda Nobunaga.
Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi.
Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Nobuo was deeply involved with all three and survived through those times.
Nobuo’s descendants also continued on.
Their lineage extended to domains like the Tanba-Kashiwabara and Dewa-Tendo, continuing until the Meiji era.
At the Incident at Honnoji, his brother Nobutada died alongside their father.
His younger brother Nobutaka took his own life the following year, in 1583.
Nobuo himself faced numerous major crises.
In 1579, he suffered a crushing defeat in the Iga Campaign.
In 1584, he fought against Hideyoshi, eventually ceding part of his domain to make peace.
In 1590, he refused a transfer of domain and was stripped of his status.
Yet, each time, he returned to the political arena.
It is difficult to call Nobuo a great commander.
The first Iga Campaign was a clear military failure, and he was harshly reprimanded by his father, Nobunaga. In 1590, he refused Hideyoshi’s order to relocate, losing his position as a daimyo.
On the other hand, in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, Nobuo was one of the main figures opposing Hideyoshi.
At that time, Nobuo was a daimyo controlling Owari, five districts in Ise, and three districts in Iga, and Ieyasu allied with him to fight against Hideyoshi.
The image of this war cannot be fully understood by the later famous names of “Hideyoshi versus Ieyasu” alone.
And Nobuo’s life cannot be seen through the failure of the Iga Campaign alone.
He was not as strong in battle as his father.
He did not seize the realm like Hideyoshi.
He did not establish a shogunate like Ieyasu.
No matter how many times he failed or lost his domain, Nobuo survived.
After the warlords of the Sengoku period passed away one by one, he lived to 73, ultimately connecting his lineage to the daimyo families of the Edo period.
Such was the life of Oda Nobuo, the second son of Oda Nobunaga.
For those who want to know more about Oda Nobuo
While Oda Nobuo is often remembered as “Nobunaga’s second son who suffered a major defeat in the Iga Campaign,” following his life to the end reveals a surprising figure who tenaciously survived through the eras of Hideyoshi and Ieyasu.
In ‘The Not Very Useful History of Japan,’ Nobuo is introduced as “a man who, despite repeated failures, protected the Oda family.”
For those who want to casually enjoy the unexpected sides of figures not deeply covered in textbooks, this is recommended.
