Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese daimyō and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the Tenka-bito and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan.
Akechi Mitsuhide, first called Jūbei from his clan and later Koretō Hyūga no Kami (惟任日向守) from his title, was a Japanese samurai general of the Sengoku period. He is best known as the assassin of Oda Nobunaga. For this notorious murder, he was somewhat disparagingly known as the "Nine Day Shogun". Mitsuhide was originally a bodyguard of Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later, one of the trusted generals under daimyō Oda Nobunaga during his war of political unification in Japan.
Shibata Katsuie or Gonroku (権六) was a Japanese samurai and military commander during the Sengoku period. He served Oda Nobunaga as one of his trusted generals, was severely wounded in the 1571 first siege of Nagashima, but then fought in the 1575 Battle of Nagashino and 1577 Battle of Tedorigawa.
The Battle of Shizugatake took place during the Sengoku period of Japan between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie in Shizugatake, Ōmi Province over a period of two days beginning on the 20th day of the fourth month of Tenshō 11. Katsuie supported Oda Nobutaka's claim as successor of Oda Nobunaga in a succession dispute within the Oda clan that benefitted Hideyoshi.
In the 1582 Siege of Takamatsu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi laid siege to Takamatsu Castle, which was controlled by the Mōri clan. He diverted a nearby river with dikes to surround and flood the castle. He also constructed towers on barges from which his gunmen could keep up a constant rate of fire and be unhindered themselves by the flooding.
The Battle of Yamazaki was fought in 1582 in Yamazaki, Japan, located in current-day Kyoto Prefecture. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Mt. Tennō.
Tenshō (天正) was a Japanese era name after Genki and before Bunroku. This period spanned the years from July 1573 through December 1592. The reigning emperors were Ōgimachi-tennō (正親町天皇) and Go-Yōzei-tennō (後陽成天皇).
The Honnō-ji Incident was the assassination of Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at Honnō-ji temple in Kyoto on 21 June 1582. Nobunaga was on the verge of unifying the country, but died in the unexpected rebellion of his vassal, Akechi Mitsuhide.
Oda Nobutaka was a samurai and member of the Oda clan. He was adopted as the head of the Kanbe clan, which ruled the middle region of Ise Province and so he was also called Kanbe Nobutaka (神戸信孝).
Ikeda Tsuneoki, also known as Ikeda Nobuteru, was an Ikeda clan daimyō and military commander under Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama periods of 16th-century Japan. He was a retainer of the famous warlords Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In his early years, he served Nobunaga, since his mother was a foster mother of Nobunaga.
Oda Nobutada was a samurai and the eldest son of Oda Nobunaga, who fought in many battles during the Sengoku period of Japan. He commanded armies under his father in battles against Matsunaga Hisahide and against the Takeda clan.
Shimizu Muneharu, also known as Shimizu Chōzaemon, was a military commander during the Sengoku period. He served the Mōri clan as a retainer to Kobayakawa Takakage and took part in the expedition to unify the Chūgoku region. He was lord of Shimizu castle at Bitchu Province, and became the lord of the Bitchu Takamatsu Castle after he captured it in 1565. His father was Shimizu Munenori.
Akechi Hidemitsu was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period. A senior retainer of Oda Nobunaga's vassal Akechi Mitsuhide, he served Mitsuhide until the latter's death in 1582 at the hands of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He is also known as Akechi Mitsuharu.
Hashiba Hidekatsu was a Japanese samurai, and the fourth son of the famed feudal warlord Oda Nobunaga and was adopted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi at a young age.
The Akechi clan is a branch of the Toki clan, which is descended from the Seiwa Genji. The Akechi clan thrived around the later part of the Sengoku period of the 16th century. The Akechi became the head (soryo) of the Toki clan after the Toki fell to the Saitō clan in 1540. The Akechi refused to bend to the rule of Saitō Yoshitatsu who retaliated by attacking Nagayama castle. Akechi Mitsuhide then served the shoguns Ashikaga Yoshiteru and Ashikaga Yoshiaki. After introducing Ashikaga Yoshiaki to Oda Nobunaga, Mitsuhide became a powerful general under Nobunaga. However, in 1582, Mitsuhide betrayed Nobunaga at the temple of Honnō-ji and forced him to commit seppuku. The Akechi clan gained more power thanks to the collapse of the Oda clan. Later that same year, Akechi Mitsuhide was slain at the Battle of Yamazaki by the forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi while his oldest son took his own life, a mere twelve days after the incident at Honnō-ji. The Akechi clan quickly fell from prominence after that.
Takigawa Kazumasu was a Japanese samurai lord and daimyo of the Sengoku period. He was a retainer and military commander of Oda Nobunaga, and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His biological son, Toshimasu, was adopted by Toshihisa and later Kazumasu served Nobunaga alongside Toshimasu's adopted uncle, Maeda Toshiie. He was also known as Sakonshōgen (左近将監).
Kobayakawa Takakage was a samurai and daimyō during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the third son of Mōri Motonari who was adopted by the Kobayakawa clan and became its 14th clan head. He merged the two branches of the Kobayakawa, the Takehara-Kobayakawa clan (竹原小早川氏) and Numata-Kobayakawa clan (沼田小早川氏). He became an active commander of the Mōri army and he with his brother Kikkawa Motoharu became known as the “Mōri Ryōsen", or “Mōri's Two Rivers" (毛利両川). As head of the Kobayakawa clan, he expanded the clan's territory in the Chūgoku region, and fought for the Mōri clan in all their campaigns
Hosokawa Fujitaka, also known as Hosokawa Yūsai, was a Japanese samurai daimyō of the Sengoku period. Fujitaka was a prominent retainer of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last Ashikaga shōgun. When he joined the Oda, Oda Nobunaga rewarded him with the fief of Tango and went on to become one of the Oda clan's senior generals.
Oda Katsunaga was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period through early Azuchi-Momoyama Period, who was the fifth son of Oda Nobunaga.
Ikeda Sen, or Anyōin (安養院), was a late-Sengoku period onna-musha. She was the daughter of Ikeda Tsuneoki and the older sister of Ikeda Terumasa. Mori Nagayoshi was her first husband. She was a woman trained in martial arts and was commander of a unit that consisted of 200 female musketeers
