Oda Nobuhide was born in 1510 in Owari Province, the eldest son of Oda Nobusada, the head of the Oda clan and a shugodai of the lower Owari area. Nobuhide became head of the Oda clan when Nobusada died in 1538, and became involved in open warfare as he was confronted to the north by Saitō Dōsan, the daimyō of Mino Province, and to the east by Imagawa Yoshimoto, the daimyō of Mikawa, Suruga, and Tōtōmi provinces. In 1542 he defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto at First Battle of Azukizaka. Nobuhide managed to hold his own against his opponents, but was never able to fully unite Owari due to constant internal struggles within Oda clan, which prevented him from achieving a complete victory. In 1547, Nobuhide was defeated at the Battle of Kanōguchi by Dōsan. In 1548, Imagawa defeated Nobuhide in the Second Battle of Azukizaka and continued to expand his territory until 1560. However, in 1549, Nobuhide made peace with Dōsan by arranging a political marriage between his eldest son, Oda Nobunaga, and Saitō's daughter, Nōhime. Dōsan supported the marriage which allowed Nobuhide focus on facing Yoshimoto. In one of his moments of glory, Nobuhide managed to capture Matsudaira Motoyasu as a hostageen route to Yoshimoto, and was thus able to gain some footholds into Mikawa. Nobuhide died in 1551, and his remains are interred in a little-known alley near Osu Kannon temple in Nagoya.
Succession controversy
Nobuhide's eldest son Oda Nobuhiro was illegitimate, and before his death designated the young Nobunaga, his eldest legitimate son, to succeed him as the head of the Oda clan and its small domain. Nobunaga, who hardly knew his father and already had a bad reputation as a delinquent in Owari, arrived inappropriately dressed at Nobuhide's funeral and threw incenseat the altar of the temple as he cursed his fate. Nobunaga's behavior and reputation resulted in almost all support that Nobuhide's retainers would have given him to disappear. Almost all Oda retainers and Nobunaga's motherTsuchida Gozen favored his younger brother, Oda Nobuyuki, who was considered to be well-behaved and reputable. As a result, Nobunaga was left with support from Hirate Masahide and his father-in-law Saitō Dōsan, whom he had never met before, and a succession crisis. Many of Nobuhide's relatives and retainers attempted to usurp his heir, and it would take seven years for Nobunaga to consolidate his power within the Oda clan and finally unite Owari Province. Nobunaga eventually conquered most of Japan, beginning his campaign in Owari, and became known as the first of the three "Great Unifiers" of the Sengoku period.
