Oda Nobunaga
History, Heritage and Religion

Kagome is surprised to see Amari Nobunaga at first, and mistakes him for a famous warlord, Oda Nobunaga. Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) was the first individual to attempt to unify Japan at the end of the Warring States period; his ultimate goal, though he never realized it, was to bring all of Japan "under a single sword" (tenka-fubu).

Like so many others in the history of Japan, he rose from an obscure family through ruthless ambition to become one of the most powerful men in Japan. Perhaps one of Oda's most significant contributions to Japanese history, outside of laying the groundwork for the future unification of the country, was his eager embrace of Westerners. Perhaps out of his dislike of esoteric Buddhism, he was fascinated by Christianity and welcomed Jesuit missionaries. As a result, he's the first Japanese leader to appear in Western histories. He also, very shrewdly, embraced Western technology -firearms, in particular.