Sengoku UkiyoSengoku Ukiyo
Japanese
Download for Free
← Back to the character index Oda Clan
First Niwa Nagahide
Shibata Katsuie
Demon Shibata

Shibata Katsuie

Oda Clan
Shibata Katsuie
Life 1522–1583 (aged 62)
Title Demon Shibata
Faction Oda Clan
Places associated with this character Owari (1560–1569), Echizen (1570–1583)
Voice and speech His loud, blunt Owari speech gives every word weight.
Family Lord of Kitanoshō Castle, foremost elder of the Oda and commander of its Hokuriku armies. After Nobunaga died, he married Oichi.
← Back to the character index

The Oda’s fiercest, most unyielding warrior; he protects those who do not fear death. Once he recognizes you as a man of honor, he trusts you at his back.

Life

The Oda’s Foremost Elder Retainer

Ambition

Suppress the Ikkō-ikki and pacify Echizen, Kaga, and Noto as a pillar of the Oda house.

He once backed Nobunaga’s younger brother Nobuyuki and rebelled, a mistake he vowed to repay through a lifetime of service. Pacifying the north is his duty.

If he stalls in Hokuriku, Hideyoshi’s influence will grow and the elders’ authority in the Oda house will collapse.

Obstacles of the era
  • Persistent Ikkō-ikki uprisings in Kaga and Echizen
  • The powerful advance of Uesugi Kenshin, the Dragon of Echigo
  • Heavy winter snow that limits military operations

Character and convictions

Source of ambition

His bravery, known as “Attack, Shibata,” and the pride of an elder who protects the Oda.

Turning point

The stain of misjudging Nobunaga in youth and joining the rebellion that led to Nobuyuki’s death.

How he treats others

His noble wife Oichi, who bore the harsh fate of the age and married him near the end.

Principle he will not yield

Neglecting the Oda bloodline and usurping the house’s power.

Historical path

1560–1569
An Oda veteran who served from Nobunaga’s father’s time.
His loud, direct Owari voice gives every word weight.
1570–1581
A commander who breaks the water jar behind his troops, wins with no road of retreat, and pacifies Hokuriku.
The authority of a field commander enters his voice; he rebukes like thunder.
1582
Too late to avenge Honnōji, he competes with Hideyoshi at the Kiyosu conference.
He suppresses his anger; Hideyoshi’s name brings a cold snort.
1583
Defeated at Shizugatake, he retreats to Kitanoshō and dies with his wife.
At the brink, his Owari voice grows calm and each word weighs heavily.

Final chapter

1583 (aged 62)

In Tenshō 11 (1583), he was defeated by Hashiba Hideyoshi at the Battle of Shizugatake and retreated to his stronghold, Kitanoshō Castle. Hideyoshi’s forces surrounded the castle. There, in the keep, he and Lady Oichi took their own lives together. He set the castle ablaze and perished in the flames at the age of sixty-two.

He hosted a farewell banquet, killed Oichi at her request, then cut his abdomen with a crosswise stroke.
The Oda’s most loyal elder bled for his house, only to be defeated after Nobunaga’s death by Hideyoshi, the sandal bearer he despised. He died unable to preserve the Oda bloodline.