CHRONOLOGY & DRAMATIS PERSONAE 1534 — Oda Kichibōshi, the future Nobunaga, is born; his father Oda Danjō no Jō Nobuhide, nominally one of three super- intendents in the service of Oda Yamato no Kami, lord of Kiyosu in Owari Province, actually is a domanial lord in his own right 1542 — Nobuhide campaigns in Mikawa Province, defeating forces sent by the daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto of Suruga Prov- ince (Tenbun 11, Eighth Month) 1544 — Nobuhide invades Mino Province but is defeated by its daimyo Saitō Dōsan (Tenbun 13/9/22) 1546 — Kichibōshi celebrates his coming of age and is given the name Oda Saburō Nobunaga 1547 — Nobunaga goes on his first military campaign, leading a raid into Mikawa 1548 — Nobunaga is married to the daughter of Saitō Dōsan of Mino 1552 — Nobuhide dies (Tenbun 21/3/3); Nobunaga succeeds him as head of the Danjō no Jō lineage of the Oda family — Nobunaga engages Yamaguchi Kurōjirō, the captain of an Imagawa garrison in Owari, in battle at Akazuka in that province (4/17) — Nobunaga defeats a force sent against him by the Oda of Kiyosu in battle at Kaizu in Owari (8/16) 1553 — Shiba Yoshimune, the shogunal military governor of Owari, is killed in Kiyosu Castle by a group of his subordinates (Tenbun 22/7/12); Nobunaga sends troops to attack Kiyosu, and the rebels’ leaders are killed (7/18) 1554 — Nobunaga storms Muraki Castle, an Imagawa outpost in southeastern Owari (Tenbun 23/1/24) — Nobunaga comes into the possession of Kiyosu Castle and moves his residence there from Nagoya Castle (after 4/20) 1556 — Saitō Dōsan’s eldest son Saitō Yoshitatsu kills his two brothers (4 January: Kōji 1/11/22), leading to a military con- flict with his father; Nobunaga supports Dōsan; Yoshitatsu defeats Dōsan, who is killed in battle (Kōji 2/4/20); Oda Ise 4 chronology & dramatis personae no Kami Nobukata of Iwakura in Owari concludes a pact with Yoshitatsu and opens hostilities against Nobunaga 1558 — Nobunaga defeats the forces of the Oda of Iwakura at Ukino in Owari (Eiroku 1/7/12) — Nobunaga kills his younger brother Oda Kanjūrō Nobu- katsu (11/2) 1559 — Nobunaga besieges, captures, and razes Iwakura Castle — Nobunaga visits Kyoto and is received by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru 1560 — Battle of Okehazama: Nobunaga defeats Imagawa Yoshi- moto, who has invaded Owari; Yoshimoto is killed in the battle (Eiroku 3/5/19) 1561 — Nobunaga defeats Saitō armies at Moribe (Eiroku 4/5/14) and Karumi (5/23) in Mino 1565 — Shogun Yoshiteru is assassinated in Kyoto (Eiroku 8/5/19); his younger brother, the Buddhist priest Kakkei of the Ichijōin in Nara, the future Ashikaga Yoshiaki, flees (7/28) — Nobunaga seizes Inuyama Castle, the last hostile stronghold in Owari (Eighth Month), completing the subjection of the province — Nobunaga captures the Saitō strongholds Uruma and Saru- bami in Mino (possibly 1564); he seizes Dōbora Castle in that province (Eiroku 8 or Eiroku 7/9/28) 1567 — Nobunaga invests Inokuchi Castle in Mino, the residence of Saitō Tatsuoki, Yoshitatsu’s successor; on seizing this for- tress (Eiroku 10/8/15), Nobunaga renames it Gifu and moves his seat there; having gained control of Mino, he has become daimyo over two provinces 1568 — March on Kyoto: Nobunaga sets out from Gifu at the head of an army with the objective of installing Ashikaga Yoshiaki as shogun in Kyoto (Eiroku 11/9/7); he sweeps aside opposi- tion from the daimyo Sasaki Jōtei in Ōmi Province (9/12– 13), enters Kyoto (9/26), and advances into Settsu Province; Yoshiaki is appointed shogun (10/18); Nobunaga declines Yoshiaki’s offer to name him vice-shogun or chief executive officer of the shogunate (10/23) 1569 — a military force mobilized by the Miyoshi Triumvirs attacks Shogun Yoshiaki’s temple residence at the Honkokuji in Kyoto (Eiroku 12/1/5) but is repelled; Nobunaga hastens to .