ODA NOBUHIDE

(1510–April 21, 1551) was a warlord and magistrate of lower Owari Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. He was the father of Oda Nobunaga.
As the head of the Oda clan, Nobuhide was involved in open warfare as he was fronted to the north by Saitō Dōsan, daimyo of Mino province, and to the east by Imagawa Yoshimoto, the daimyo of Mikawa, Suruga, and Totomi provinces. However, he was never able to fully unite Owari Province. Though he managed to hold his own against any of the opponents, constant internal struggles within Oda clan prevented him from archieving a complete victory. In 1549, Nobuhide made peace with Saitō Dōsan by arranging a political marriage between son (Nobunaga) and Saito's daughter. Supported by Dōsan, Nobuhide focused on facing Imagawa. In one of his moments of glory, he managed to capture Matsudaira Motoyasu on route to Imagawa as a hostage. He was thus able to gain some footholds into Mikawa.
When Nobuhide died in 1551 while at Suemori Castle, he had designated young Nobunaga to succeed him as the head of the Oda clan and its small domain. Nobunaga, who hardly even knew his father and already had a bad reputation as a deliquent, arrived inappropriately dressed at Nobuhide's funeral and threw incense at the altar of the temple as he cursed his fate. Almost all support that Nobuhide's retainers would have given Nobunaga went to younger brother Oda Nobuyuki, instead. For support, Nobunaga was left with Hirate Masahide and his father-in-law Saitō Dōsan, whom he had never met before. From that point forward, it would take a seven years for Nobunaga to consolidate his power within the clan and finally unite Owari Province.