The 1573 was one of many battles the warlord Oda Nobunaga fought against the Azai and Asakura clans during Japan's

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

. These two families were among the staunchest opponents of Nobunaga's attempts to seize land and power for himself. In that year, 1573, Nobunaga besieged Odani castle, which was held by

Azai Nagamasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period known as the brother-in-law and enemy of Oda Nobunaga. Nagamasa was head of the Azai clan seated at Odani Castle in northern Ōmi Province and married Nobunaga's sister Oichi in 1564, fathering ...

Asakura Yoshikage was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period (1467–1603) who ruled a part of Echizen Province in present-day Fukui Prefecture. He was a regent of Ashikaga Shogunate. Yoshikage's conflicts with Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) resulted in his deat ...

, leading a force to relieve and reinforce the Azai garrison, came under attack by Nobunaga's army. He sought refuge in Hikida Castle, and came under siege himself. Hikida fell on August 10, and Asakura fled back to his home province of Echizen.

References

Hikida 1573 1573 in Japan Conflicts in 1573 Hikida 1573 {{japan-battle-stub