The 1573 was the last stand of the Azai clan, one of Oda Nobunaga's chief opponents.

Nobunaga took Odani Castle from Azai Nagamasa, who, left with no other option, committed suicide along with his son. His wife and three daughters were entrusted to Nobunaga, considering they were his sister and nieces. 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.

Before Azai Nagamasa committed seppuku he decided to make one last siege on Nobunaga's main camp; in the end, however, he failed and was instead captured. Azai also knew from the beginning he would lose this battle, so before he died he gave Nobunaga's sister Oichi back, saving her from death.

In popular culture

The battle has been featured in the game Samurai Warriors 2. It is worth noting however that in the game, both the Azai and Asakura clans are destroyed during the Odani siege when historically, the Asakura clan was destroyed in the following year.

References

• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.