Oda (Nobunaga's sister) · Oda
Oichi
“The Most Beautiful Woman of the Sengoku Age”
Oda Nobunaga's sister, remembered as "the most beautiful woman of the Sengoku age." Married to Azai Nagamasa of northern Ōmi, she bore the three sisters Chacha, Hatsu and Gō, but her husband fell out with Nobunaga and died at Odani Castle. She returned with her daughters to her brother and, after Honnō-ji and the Kiyosu conference, was remarried to the Oda elder Shibata Katsuie. The following year, Tenshō 11, she shut herself in Kitanoshō Castle in Echizen with Katsuie after his defeat at Shizugatake and took her own life in the burning castle. Her eldest daughter Chacha, rescued from the castle, later became Toyotomi Hideyoshi's consort, Lady Yodo.
- Epithet
- “The Most Beautiful Woman of the Sengoku Age”
- Domain / base
- Odani, Ōmi → Kitanoshō, Echizen
- Side
- Oda (Nobunaga's sister)
- Lived
- 1547–1583 (aged 37)
Even without it the parting would come, on this short summer night; but the cuckoo calls it nearer.
Death poem attributed to Oichi
Life
- Eiroku 10 Marriage to the Azai Married Azai Nagamasa of northern Ōmi as part of her brother Nobunaga's alliance policy.
- Tenshō 1 The Fall of Odani Her husband Nagamasa was destroyed by Nobunaga, and she was rescued with her three daughters.
- Tenshō 10 Kiyosu Conference and Remarriage After Honnō-ji she was remarried to Shibata Katsuie following the Kiyosu conference.
- Tenshō 11 Death at Kitanoshō Took her own life at Kitanoshō Castle with Katsuie after his defeat at Shizugatake.
Battles in this archive1 battles
Related sites
- Odani Castle ruins (Nagahama, Shiga)
- Kitanoshō Castle site and Shibata Shrine (Fukui)
FAQ
- Who was Oichi?
- Oda Nobunaga's sister, remembered as the most beautiful woman of the Sengoku age. She married Azai Nagamasa and bore the three Azai sisters; after Nagamasa's fall she was remarried to Shibata Katsuie and took her own life with him at Kitanoshō Castle after his defeat at Shizugatake.
- Why did Oichi live through two castle falls?
- Because her first husband Azai Nagamasa's Odani Castle was destroyed by her brother Nobunaga, and her second husband Shibata Katsuie's Kitanoshō Castle fell to Hideyoshi after Shizugatake. The second time she sent her daughters to safety and died in the castle with Katsuie.
- What became of Oichi's daughters?
- The three sisters Chacha, Hatsu and Gō were rescued from Kitanoshō. The eldest, Chacha, became Hideyoshi's consort Lady Yodo, and the youngest, Gō, the wife of Tokugawa Hidetada; each was thus tied to a ruler of Japan.