Siege of Odani Castle

Siege of Odani
Part of the Sengoku period
Date 1573 Location Odani Castle, Omi Province Result Oda Nobunaga victory; Azai clan destroyed
Belligerents
forces of Oda Nobunaga	forces of Azai Nagamasa
Commanders and leaders
Oda Nobunaga	Azai Nagamasa
Strength
10,000	6,000

The 1573 Siege of Odani Castle (小谷城の戦い, Odani-jō no Tatakai) was the last stand of the Azai clan, one of Oda Nobunaga's chief opponents.

Nobunaga took Odani Castle from Azai Nagamasa, who, left with no other option, committed suicide along with his son. His wife and three daughters were entrusted to Nobunaga, considering they were his sister and nieces. Two of Nagamasa's daughters would later marry into powerful families. Their escape from the besieged castle became a fairly common sentimental scene in traditional Japanese art.

Before Azai Nagamasa committed seppuku he decided to make one last siege on Nobunaga's main camp; in the end, however, he failed and was instead captured. Azai also knew from the beginning he would lose this battle, so before he died he gave Nobunaga's sister Oichi back, saving her from death.

In popular culture

The battle has been featured in the game Samurai Warriors 2. It is worth noting however that in the game, both the Azai and Asakura clans are destroyed during the Odani siege when historically, the Asakura clan was destroyed in the following year.

References

• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.