The 1573 was one of many battles the warlord

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

fought against the Azai and Asakura clans during Japan's

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. These two families were among the staunchest opponents of Nobunaga's attempts to seize land and power for himself. In summer 1573, Nobunaga led 30,000 forces marched from

Gifu Castle is a Japanese castle located in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Along with Mount Kinka and the Nagara River, it is one of the main symbols of the city. The castle is also known as . It was designated a National Historic Site in 2011. ...

to Omi province to besieged

Odani castle 280px, Map of Odani Castle was a Sengoku period mountain-top Japanese castle located in the former town of Kohoku, now part of Nagahama city, in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Only the ruins remain today. It was the home castle of the Azai clan and t ...

, which was held by

Azai Nagamasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period known as the brother-in-law and enemy of Oda Nobunaga. Nagamasa was head of the Azai clan seated at Odani Castle in northern Ōmi Province and married Nobunaga's sister Oichi in 1564, fathering ...

. In respond,

Asakura Yoshikage was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period (1467–1603) who ruled a part of Echizen Province in present-day Fukui Prefecture. He was a regent of Ashikaga Shogunate. Yoshikage's conflicts with Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) resulted in his de ...

, led a 20,000 forces to relieve and reinforce the Azai garrison. However, Nobunaga's forces turned around to attack Yoshikage's. Later, when Yoshikage came under attack by Nobunaga's army, he sought refuge in Hikida Castle, and came under siege himself. Hikida castle fell on August 10, and Yoshikage fled back to his home castle at

Echizen province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Echizen bordered on Kaga Province, Kaga, Wakasa Province, Wakasa, Hida Province, Hida, and Ōmi Provin ...

Aftermath

Later, Oda Nobunaga's forces advance to Echizen and attacked Ichijodani castle in September 1573, devastating the

Asakura clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Asakura", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 3 DF 7 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5-4. ...

References

Sieges of the Sengoku period 1573 in Japan Conflicts in 1573 Military history of Shiga Prefecture Ōmi Province Attacks on castles in Japan 16th-century military history of Japan {{japan-battle-stub