1.
Oda Nobunaga, warlord who began the unification of Japan
A powerful daimyo of the 戦国 (Warring States) period who broke the old feudal order and began unifying Japan by force, only to be betrayed and killed by one of his own generals at 本能寺. He is the archetype of the ruthless, innovative reformer in popular history and fiction.
織田信長 was the first of the three great unifiers of Japan, followed by his general 豊臣秀吉 and then 徳川家康. He is remembered as a ruthless, innovative reformer who broke with tradition — adopting European firearms early and attacking rival Buddhist institutions — and his sudden death remains one of the most famous betrayals in Japanese history.
Cultural note
- 本能寺の変: the Incident at Honnoji (1582), where his general 明智光秀 forced him to suicide — a byword for sudden betrayal.
- A well-known saying attributed to him and his successors, "if the cuckoo won't sing, kill it" (Nobunaga's line, contrasted with Hideyoshi's "make it want to sing" and Ieyasu's "wait for it to sing"), is used to characterize the three unifiers' different temperaments.
- He appears constantly in period dramas, novels, and video games as the archetypal bold, ruthless reformer.
Related Words
Related:
本能寺の変 (the Honnōji Incident (1582))