Oda Nobunaga (Japanese: 織田 信長; 1534 – 1582) was a powerful daimyō during the Sengoku period of Japan, and the first of Japan's three great unifiers (三英傑). Inheriting the title of daimyō of Owari after his father Oda Nobuhide died in 1551, Nobunaga's carefree lifestyle as a youth neglecting lessons on statecraft meant he had to quickly reconsolidate the Oda clan's power in the region if he hoped to survive.
After securing his position, he set out to unite the country under his banner. His rule was marked by brutal military campaigns, often bringing significant force against the slightest opposition that refused to recognize his authority, first initiating the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War against the Buddhist Ikkō-ikki before twice invading Iga to start the Tenshō Iga War against the shinobi of Iga ikki.
Although Nobunaga's military conquests were largely successful, his rule came to an abrupt end in 1582, when one of his own generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, turned on him and led an attack against the daimyō at the Honnō-ji temple in Kyoto. Faced with inevitable defeat, Nobunaga committed seppuku, and the mantle of unifying the land was taken over by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
