Oda Nobunaga and the First Unification
When Oda Nobunaga marched on Kyoto in 1568, he was already distinguished among Sengoku daimyō by his willingness to break every convention. He adopted the Portuguese arquebus — introduced to Japan in 1543 — equipping ashigaru infantry in unprecedented numbers and deploying them behind wooden barricades at the battle of Nagashino (1575), where concentrated volley fire annihilated Takeda cavalry. Nobunaga was equally ruthless with institutional obstacles. His burning of Mount Hiei in 1571, massacring an estimated 3,000 people of the Enryaku-ji monastic complex, shocked contemporaries. At the peak of his power in June 1582, while lodging at the Honnō-ji temple with only a small retinue, Nobunaga was surrounded by forces of his general Akechi Mitsuhide and committed suicide as the temple burned.
- Year: 1568 CE
- Category: Political
