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Oda Nobuhide (織田
信秀
1510-1551)
was a warlord and magistrate of lower
Owari province during the
Sengoku Period of
Japan. He was the father of the great
Oda Nobunaga.
Though the head of the Oda clan, Nobuhide never fully
united
Owari province but was involved in open warfare as he was fronted to the
north by Saito Dousan, daimyo of Mino province, and to the east by Imagawa
Yoshimoto, the daimyo of Mikawa, Suruga, and Totomi provinces. In 1549,
Nobuhide made peace with Saito Dousan by arranging a political marriage
between son Nobunaga and Saito's daughter. However, confrontation between
the Imagawa and the Oda continued.
Nobuhide suddenly died in
1551 and designated young Nobunaga to succeed him in becoming head of
the Oda clan and small domain. Nobunaga, who hardly even knew his father and
already had a bad reputation as a deliquent, arrived inappropriately dressed
at Nobuhide's funeral and threw incense at the altar of the temple as he
cursed his fate. Almost all support of Nobunaga that would have been had
from Nobuhide's retainers went to younger brother Oda Nobuyuki, leaving
Nobunaga with Hirate Masahide and his father-in-law Saito Dousan, whom he
had never met before. From that point forward, it would take a long 7 years
for Nobunaga to consolidate his power within the clan and finally unite
Owari province.
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