He was born the eldest son of Oda Nobunaga of Owari. His mother is said to have been a daughter of the Ikoma, though accounts differ. His childhood name is said to have been Kimyomaru. His father was still unifying Owari, and he was raised as heir to a man who would rise to rule the realm.
As a pledge of the Oda-Takeda alliance, he is said to have been betrothed to Takeda Shingen's daughter Matsuhime. It was a promise between children, and as relations between the houses later soured, the engagement was never fulfilled.
He came of age as Kankuro Nobushige, later renamed Nobutada. That year Takeda Shingen invaded Tokugawa Ieyasu's lands and the Oda-Takeda alliance broke. Under his father, Nobutada joined the wars against the Takeda and the Ikko uprisings.
He joined the attack on the Ikko uprising at Nagashima in Ise, which had long resisted the Oda. His father Nobunaga surrounded Nagashima with a great army and harshly destroyed the rebels without accepting surrender. The young Nobutada saw firsthand the ferocity of war with religious forces.
He took part in the battle of Nagashino that crushed Takeda Katsuyori's army, then as commander captured Iwamura Castle in Mino. Retaking a castle the Takeda had seized, he won his father's recognition as a general able to lead an army.
At the end of that year his father Nobunaga gave him headship of the Oda, the lands of Mino and Owari, and Gifu Castle. His father built a new castle at Azuchi to focus on ruling the realm, while Nobutada, as head of the house, was entrusted with defense toward the east.
When Matsunaga Hisahide rebelled against his father and shut himself in Shigisan Castle in Yamato, Nobutada led the siege as commander. Hisahide met his end with the castle. For this Nobutada received high court rank and secured his place as heir in name and fact.
To aid Hashiba Hideyoshi against the Mori, he led an army to Harima and took Kanki Castle and others. It shows that, at his father's command, he went to battlefields across the land and served to unite the senior Oda commanders.
He joined, at the head of the family, the grand military parade his father Nobunaga held in Kyoto. Oda power was displayed before the emperor, nobles and great crowds. As second only to his father, Nobutada made a wide impression.
As commander he invaded Takeda lands and took Takato Castle after fierce fighting. Takeda castles surrendered one after another, and Takeda Katsuyori met his end at Tenmokuzan. Nobutada, who finished the war before his father arrived, was highly praised.
While at Myokakuji in Kyoto, Akechi Mitsuhide attacked his father at Honnoji. Nobutada tried to save him but could not, moved to Nijo Palace and fought the Akechi forces. Though said to have had a chance to escape, he stood his ground and, exhausted, took his own life at 25.
Matsunaga HisahideTakeda ShingenAkechi MitsuhideOda NobunagaTokugawa IeyasuTakeda KatsuyoriTakigawa KazumasuOda Nagamasu (Urakusai)
Suminokura RyōiGamō UjisatoTōdō TakatoraUesugi KagekatsuKatakura KagetsunaIshida MitsunariNaoe KanetsuguIi Naomasa
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.