Siege of Odani
Encyclopedia
The 1573 was the last stand of the Azai clan, one of Oda Nobunaga
's chief opponents.
Nobunaga took Odani Castle
from Azai Nagamasa
, who, left with no other option, committed suicide along with his son. His wife and three daughters were entrusted to Nobunaga, considering they were his sister and nieces. Two of Nagamasa's daughters would later marry into powerful families. Their escape from the besieged castle became a fairly common sentimental scene in traditional Japanese art
.
Before Azai Nagamasa committed seppuku
he decided to make one last siege on Nobunaga's main camp; in the end, however, he failed and was instead captured. Azai also knew from the beginning he would lose this battle, so before he died he gave Nobunaga's sister Oichi back, saving her from death.
.
Oda Nobunaga
was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...
's chief opponents.
Nobunaga took Odani Castle
Odani Castle
was a Sengoku period mountain-top castle located in the present day town of Kohoku in Higashiazai District, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Only the ruins remain today. It was the home castle of the Azai clan and the mountain it was built upon was considered to be impregnable...
from Azai Nagamasa
Azai Nagamasa
was a Daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japan. His clan, the Azai, were located in northern Ōmi Province, east of Lake Biwa. He was both the brother-in-law of Oda Nobunaga, starting in 1564, and one of Nobunaga's enemies from 1570-1573. Nagamasa and his clan were utterly destroyed by Oda...
, who, left with no other option, committed suicide along with his son. His wife and three daughters were entrusted to Nobunaga, considering they were his sister and nieces. Two of Nagamasa's daughters would later marry into powerful families. Their escape from the besieged castle became a fairly common sentimental scene in traditional Japanese art
Japanese art
Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper and more recently manga, cartoon, along with a myriad of other types of works of art...
.
Before Azai Nagamasa committed seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
he decided to make one last siege on Nobunaga's main camp; in the end, however, he failed and was instead captured. Azai also knew from the beginning he would lose this battle, so before he died he gave Nobunaga's sister Oichi back, saving her from death.
In popular culture
The battle has been featured in the game Samurai Warriors 2. It is worth noting however that in the game, both the Azai and Asakura clans are destroyed during the Odani siege when historically, the Asakura clan was destroyed in the following yearSiege of Ichijo ga dani
The 1573 was undertaken by Oda Nobunaga, a powerful warlord of Japan's Sengoku period. It was one of several actions taken in a series of campaigns against the Asakura and Azai clans, which opposed his growing power....
.