Oda clan (Owari)

The Oda clan kamon.

The Oda of Owari province were originally retainers of the Shiba shûgo family (starting from around 1400). When the Shiba's power dwindled in the early Sengoku Period, the Oda became lords of Owari, though nominal respect was shown the Shiba lord until the 1550's. Two main rival factions of the Oda, known as the Kiyosu and Iwakura branches, contended for decades, with the Kiyosu faction, eventually led by Oda Nobunaga, becoming dominant by 1555. The Oda rose rapidly with Nobunaga's drive for national hegemony but lost most of its influence following his death. The Oda's roots are obscure and while Nobunaga claimed Taira descent, this was and is impossible to confirm. In fact, it is unclear just how the Iwakura and Kiyosu Oda had been related.

In the Edo period, the Oda clan had divided into four houses. One of these, descended from Nobunaga's brother Oda Uraku, became the only one of the four houses to be granted "castle holder" (shiro-nushi) status under the Tokugawa shogunate. They served as lords of Yanagimoto han in Yamato province.[1] Another branch, descended from Oda Nobuyoshi, fourth son of Oda Nobukatsu (who was, in turn, the second son of Nobunaga), ruled Tendô domain in Dewa province.


Generals of the Oda clan during the Sengoku Period

References

  1. Ogawa Kyôichi 小川恭一, Shogun omemie sahô 将軍お目見え作法, Tokyojin 東京人 (1995/1), 84.