Oda Nobunaga

After succeeding his father Oda Nobuhide in 1551, he defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto against the odds at Okehazama in 1560; escorted Yoshiaki into Kyoto in 1568; burned Mount Hiei's Enryaku-ji in 1571; expelled Yoshiaki in 1573, leaving the Muromachi shogunate in name only; broke Takeda Katsuyori's cavalry with volley fire at Nagashino in 1575; and made Azuchi Castle his seat in his later years. In 1582 he was attacked at Honnō-ji by his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide and died by self-immolation. He was posthumously granted the rank of Daijō-daijin (Chancellor).

• Birthplace: Owari Province (present-day Aichi Prefecture). The exact castle is disputed: one account says Nagono Castle, another says Shobata Castle. Both accounts are recorded; neither may be stated as certain.
• Places of activity: Kiyosu Castle (his seat in the early Owari unification), Gifu Castle (formerly Inabayama Castle, his base after pacifying Mino), Azuchi Castle (Ōmi Province, the castle with a tenshu completed in 1579), Kyoto (the political centre after his entry into the capital).
• Place of death: Honnō-ji, Kyoto (the site of the Honnō-ji Incident).
• Burial place: His body was never found, so there is no certain grave. Honnō-ji contains a memorial to Nobunaga, erected by his third son Oda Nobutaka on 3 July 1582 (about one month after the incident); Sōken-in at Daitoku-ji in Kyoto is also a memorial site of the Oda family. Both are memorial sites and must not be described as burial places.
• Further reading places: Kiyosu Castle ruins, Gifu Castle, Azuchi Castle ruins, the Nijō Castle area of Kyoto (connected with Kyoto politics after Nobunaga's entry into the capital).

Cultural significance

Nobunaga is the archetypal "innovator" in the Japanese imagination: the rakuichi-rakuza free markets that broke the guild monopolies, the heavy use of firearms and new tactics, the Azuchi Castle tenshu that pioneered early-modern castle architecture, and his dealings with Christian missionaries. At the same time, his ruthless acts, such as the burning of Enryaku-ji, make him a controversial figure. The Honnō-ji Incident is one of the most famous "gekokujō" (overthrow from below) episodes in Japanese history, and the "Tenka Fubu" seal and the dance of "Atsumori" have become fixed motifs in popular culture, appearing constantly in games, films and novels.