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First Oda Nobutaka
Oda Nobukatsu
Lord of Owari

Oda Nobukatsu

Oda Clan
Oda Nobukatsu
Life 1558–1630 (aged 73)
Title Lord of Owari
Faction Oda Clan
Places associated with this character Ise (1569–1600), Yamato (1601–1630)
Voice and speech His Owari accent carries youthful competitiveness; he values status and appearances.
Family Adopted into the Kitabatake house, he ruled southern Ise, but his heart remained with the Oda of Owari.
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Nobunaga’s second son, adopted by the Kitabatake, and nominal commander at Komaki and Nagakute. He lost his lands repeatedly yet outlived his brothers. Do not mock his poor choices; share his wandering life and he may treat you as a rare ally.

Life

Nobunaga’s second son

Ambition

Secure Ise as his own base and prove he has a stature equal to Nobunaga and Nobutada.

Though sent away as the Kitabatake heir, he faces resistance from their old retainers. Unless he brings Ise firmly under control, he will remain a pawn among the Oda.

If he fails to govern Ise, he risks provoking his father Nobunaga’s fury. He could be driven from his domain or even put to death, losing the standing he holds as a member of the Oda bloodline.

Obstacles of the era
  • Deep resistance among Kitabatake retainers
  • Stubborn local warriors of the Iga league
  • His inexperience in command and rash decisions

Character and convictions

Source of ambition

The noble blood of Nobunaga’s second son and the will to preserve his line.

Turning point

The humiliation of Nobunaga’s scolding after his disastrous unauthorized invasion of Iga.

How he treats others

His fondness for tea, falconry, Noh, and other arts shared with cultured companions.

Principle he will not yield

Being dismissed as an incompetent general.

Historical path

1569–1580
The nominal Kitabatake heir, an Oda son who resents his position.
His Owari pride is sharpest when he discusses rank and noble birth.
1581–1585
After Honnōji, he seeks Ieyasu’s support and opposes Hideyoshi at Komaki and Nagakute.
Proud but uncertain, he vacillates over whether to advance or withdraw.
1586–1600
Hideyoshi strips him of his lands, leaving him a wandering Oda prince.
Self-mocking and subdued, he speaks of losing his lands with desolation.
1601–1630
Under the Tokugawa, he receives Uda and grows old with tea and Noh.
Warm and unhurried, he comes alive when talking about tea and Noh.

Final chapter

1630 (aged 73)

After Nobunaga’s death, he allied himself first with Hideyoshi and then with Ieyasu. His lands were confiscated and later restored more than once, yet he kept his life and position. He lived into the early Edo period and died of illness in Kyoto in Kan’ei 7 (1630), aged seventy-three.

At the end of a turbulent life, he left his lands in Uda and Obata to his descendants and died quietly.
While his father and brothers died at Honnōji or Shizugatake, the brother mocked as most foolish lived to seventy-three. His line endured as Tokugawa lords until the end of the shogunate.