Editing Oda Nobunaga (section)

===Succession crisis===
{{Main|Battle of Akatsuka}}
In 1551, Oda Nobuhide died unexpectedly. It has been said that Nobunaga acted outrageously during his funeral, throwing ceremonial [[incense]] at the altar.<ref name=tale3>{{cite book |last1=Okanoya |first1=Shigezane|editor1-first=Andrew |editor1-last=Dykstra |editor2-first= Yoshiko |editor2-last=Dykstra |others= translated by Andrew and Yoshiko Dykstra | title=Meishōgenkōroku |trans-title=Shogun and Samurai – Tales of Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu|url= http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/309 |format= PDF |access-date= 21 July 2010 |year=2007 |orig-year= based on 1943 edition by Iwanami Shoten, Japan; first edition 1871 | chapter = Tale 3 – His Extraordinary Appearance|hdl=10125/309}}</ref> Although Nobunaga was Nobuhide's legitimate heir, a succession crisis occurred when some of the Oda clan opposed him. Nobunaga assembled a force of 1,000 men and used them to intimidate and dissuade his enemies, thus preventing a serious disruption in the transfer of power.

Sensing weakness, the ''daimyō'' [[Imagawa Yoshimoto]] sent an army under the command of [[Sessai Chōrō|Imagawa Sessai]] to lay siege to the castle at [[Anjō]], where [[Oda Nobuhiro]], Nobunaga's older brother, was living. To save his life, Nobunaga was compelled to turn over a hostage held by his clan at Honshōji temple, nine-year-old Matsudaira Takechiyo – later known as [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] – an exchange that helped solidify an alliance between other rival clans. Nobuhiro, frustrated by his low standing in the Oda clan, later plotted against Nobunaga with the assistance of another rival, [[Saitō Yoshitatsu]]; Nobunaga learned of the plot but chose to forgive his brother's conduct.

In early 1552, barely several months after his father's death, one of Oda's senior retainers, {{ill|Yamaguchi Noritsugu|jp|山口教継|vertical-align=sup}} and his son {{ill|Yamaguchi Noriyoshi|jp|山口教吉|vertical-align=sup}} defected to the Imagawa clan. In response, Nobunaga attacked Noritsugu, but was defeated by Noriyoshi's forces at the [[Battle of Akatsuka]]. Nobunaga retreated and left contested lands in eastern Owari under Imagawa control.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />