Oda Nobutada

Oda Nobutada (1557-1582) was the legitimate son and heir of Oda Nobunaga, destined to inherit and continue his father's work of national unification. Occupying the position second only to Nobunaga, he made great contributions to the pacification of various regions under his father's command with Gifu Castle as his base.

Nobutada demonstrated excellent talents as a warrior and served as vanguard in the destruction of the Takeda clan in 1582. In the Takeda campaign, he invaded the Koshin region alongside his father Nobunaga, achieving a decisive victory at the Battle of Tenmokuzan that forced Takeda Katsuyori to commit suicide. Nobutada's command in this battle was highly praised and fully demonstrated the qualities of a future ruler of the realm.

However, when his father Nobunaga was killed through the treachery of Akechi Mitsuhide in the Honnōji Incident in June of that year, Nobutada also resisted at Nijō Palace but was overwhelmed by superior numbers, taking his own life at the young age of 25. Nobutada's death severed the dream of national unification under the Oda family, becoming the trigger for the succession struggle among Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Shibata Katsuie, and others. Regarding swords, influenced by his father Nobunaga, Nobutada deeply cherished swords, and as the heir to the famous swords transmitted within the Oda family, he was also a guardian of sword culture. Had the Honnōji Incident not occurred, the possibility that Nobutada would have completed national unification was extremely high, making him an indispensable figure in discussing the "what ifs" of Japanese history.