Battle of Inabayama Castle

Timeline

1. 1567Iguchi, Mino Province · Mino ProvinceAfter Saito Dōsan's death, Yoshikatsu and Tatsuoki ruled in turn and vassals grew alienated. Andō Morinari, Inaba Yoshihiro, Ujiie Naomoto and other western Mino lords turned to Oda. Nobunaga advanced from Owari, fire-bombed Iguchi below the castle, cut the supply route, and encircled Inabayama Castle on Mount Kinka. Kinoshita Tōkichirō (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) participated in the Mino campaign; later accounts of the one-night fort at Sunomata and the cliff raid are largely war-story embellishment and remain undetermined.
2. 1567Inabayama Castle · GifuAfter about two weeks of siege the garrison collapsed and Saito Tatsuoki abandoned the castle and fled (later drifting around Nagashima in Ise). Mino Province entered the Oda domain, and the Saito clan as a Sengoku daimyo ended. This was one of Nobunaga's most important territorial expansions since Okehazama, gaining the grain-producing Nobi plain and a gateway to Ōmi and Kyoto.
3. 1567–1568Gifu Castle · GifuNobunaga repaired the mountain castle and renamed it Gifu, alluding to King Wen of Zhou rising at Mount Qi; the town of Iguchi below was renamed likewise. He moved there from Komakiyama, promoted rakuichi rakuza, and used the vermilion seal 'Tenka Bubu', openly declaring unification by force as his goal. In 1568 he entered the capital from Gifu and installed Ashikaga Yoshiaki. The Honnō-ji Incident is outside the scope of this entry.