View source for Siege of Odani Castle

{{Short description|1573 siege in Japan}}
{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Siege of Odani
|partof=the [[Sengoku period]]
|image=
|caption=
|date=October, 1573
|place= [[Odani Castle]], [[Ōmi Province]]
|casus=
|territory=
|result=*Oda Nobunaga victory
*[[Azai clan]] destroyed
|combatant1= forces of [[Oda Nobunaga]]
|combatant2= forces of [[Azai Nagamasa]]
|commander1='''[[Oda Nobunaga]]'''<br>[[Oda Nobutada]]<br>[[Gamō Ujisato]]<br>[[Isono Kazumasa]]<br>[[Miyabe Keijun]]
|commander2='''[[Azai Nagamasa]]'''{{KIA}}<br>[[Akao Kiyotsuna]]{{executed}}<br>[[Kaihō Tsunachika]]{{KIA}}<br>[[Amenomori Kiyosada]]<br>[[Atsuji Sadayuki]]
|strength1=
|strength2=
|casualties1=
|casualties2=
}}
{{Campaignbox Campaigns of Oda Nobunaga}}
{{Campaignbox Campaigns of Azai Nagamasa}}
{{Campaignbox Campaigns of Toyotomi Hideyoshi}}

The 1573 {{nihongo|'''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.<ref name="Cassell">{{cite book|last1=Turnbull|first1=Stephen|title=The Samurai Sourcebook|date=2000|publisher=Cassell & C0|location=London|isbn=1854095234|pages=224}}</ref> and the first battle of [[Oda Nobutada]].

==Prelude==
In September, 1573, [[Oda Nobunaga]] defeated the [[Asakura clan]] at the [[siege of Ichijodani Castle]]. Later, the Oda forces returned to northern Ōmi, he defeated [[Isono Kazumasa]], took [[Sawayama Castle]] and on October, 1573, Nobunaga began attacking [[Odani Castle]], devastating the [[Azai clan]].

==Siege==
Nobunaga took Odani Castle from [[Azai Nagamasa]], who, left with no other option, committed [[seppuku]] along with his father. Azai knew from the beginning that he would lose the battle, so he gave his wife [[Oichi]] (Nobunaga's sister), and their three daughters back to Nobunaga, saving them from death.<ref name=Turnbull>{{Cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Stephen |title=Battles of the Samurai |publisher=Arms and Armour Press |year=1987 |ISBN=0853688265 |page=65}}</ref> 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]].

==Aftermath==
Nagamasa suffered much the same fate as his comrade-in-arms [[Asakura Yoshikage]], whose castle at [[Oda Nobunaga]]'s [[siege of Ichijodani Castle]] was set aflame and destroyed.<ref name="Cassell">{{cite book|last1=Turnbull|first1=Stephen|title=The Samurai Sourcebook|date=2000|publisher=Cassell & C0|location=London|isbn=1854095234|pages=224}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
The siege of the castle and the late surrender is shown in the movie ''[[Sword for Hire]]'', directed by [[Hiroshi Inagaki]] in 1952.

The battle has been featured in the game Samurai Warriors 2. In the game, however, both the Azai and Asakura clans are destroyed during the Odani siege. Historically, the Asakura clan was [[Siege of Ichijōdani Castle|destroyed before the Azai at the Battle of Ichijodani]].

==See also==
*[[Battle of Anegawa]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{coord missing|Shiga Prefecture}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odani 1573}}
[[Category:1573 in Japan]]
[[Category:Sieges of the Sengoku period]]
[[Category:Ōmi Province]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1573]]
[[Category:Last stands]]
[[Category:16th-century military history of Japan]]
[[Category:Azai clan]]
[[Category:Attacks on castles in Japan]]
[[Category:Nagahama, Shiga]]
[[Category:Military history of Shiga Prefecture]]