Oda Nobuhide

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Oda Nobuhide (織田 信秀 Oda Nobuhide 1510 – April 21, 1551) was a warlord and magistrate of lower Owari Province during the Sengoku Period of Japan. He was the father of 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 Dosan, daimyo of Mino province, and to the east by Imagawa Yoshimoto, the daimyo of Mikawa, Suruga, and Totomi provinces. Though he managed to hold his own against any of the opponents, constant internal struggles within Oda clan prevented him from archieving a complete victory. In 1549, Nobuhide made peace with Saito Dosan by arranging a political marriage between son Nobunaga and Saito's daughter. Supported by Dosan, Nobuhide focused on facing Imagawa. In one of his moment of glory, he managed to capture Matsudaira Motoyasu on route to Imagawa as a hostage. By using him, he managed to gain some footholds into Mikawa.

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 Dosan, 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.