Oda Nobunaga was the foremost military leader of Japan from 1568 to 1582. Nobunaga, along with his two immediate successors, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), is credited with unifying medieval Japan in the second half of the 16th century. An innovative general who also used diplomacy as well as superior military tactics and weapons to see off his rivals, the warlord was infamous for his ruthless drive to conquer all before him.
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Definition
Timeline
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1534Oda Nobunaga is born in Owari Province, Japan.
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1549Oda Nobunaga adds a specialist corps of 500 musketeers to his army.
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1551Oda Nobunaga becomes the lord of Nagoya castle, Japan.
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1554Oda Nobunaga captures Muraki castle after a siege.
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1555Oda Nobunaga razes the town of Kiyosu, Japan.
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1557Oda Nobunaga murders his own brother.
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1559Oda Nobunaga captures and obliterates the fortress of Iwakura, Japan.
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1560Oda Nobunaga defeats the warlord of Mikawa, Imagawa Yoshimoto, at the Battle of Okehazama.
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1568 - 1582Oda Nobunaga seizes Heiankyo (Kyoto) and is the dominant military leader in central Japan.
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1571Oda Nobunaga attacks the Buddhist Enryakuji monastic complex near Kyoto.
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1573Oda Nobunaga exiles the last Ashikaga shogun, Yoshiaki.
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1575Oda Nobunaga wins the Battle of Nagashino.
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1576Oda Nobunaga instigates a 'sword hunt' to confiscate all weapons from the Japanese peasantry.
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1579Oda Nobunaga establishes a new headquarters at Azuchi castle.
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1580Oda Nobunaga attacks the Buddhist temple-fortress of Ishiyama Honganji in Osaka using ship-mounted cannons.
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1582 - 1598Oda Nobunaga and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi conduct an extensive land ownership survey across Japan.
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21 Jun 1582Death of Oda Nobunaga.
