The Imagawa forces were celebrating their recent victories over a number of smaller Oda held castles with sake and food. Using a thunderstorm to mask their movements, the Oda troops left the Zenshoji and made their way down from hills above the small valley, and struck hard at the heart of the Imagawa camp.

Imagawa Yoshimoto was in his tent-like war camp enclosure when he heard the first of the fighting. Thinking it was a drunken brawl amongst his men, he left the camp to investigate, and was shocked to see Oda troops bearing down on him. Imagawa fought off one attack by a spear wielding Oda samurai, cutting through the spear thrust at him, and into the man's leg. He was then tackled by a second Oda samurai, who promptly took his head. Imagawa Yoshimoto was just 41 years old.

The battle raged for a short while afterwards, but with their leader having been dispatched early, and all but two of the senior officers killed, the remaining men surrendered. Nobunaga's 2,500 troops had defeated an army of 25,000!

This was one of the most significant turning points in Japanese history. 
The battle saw the end of the powerful Imagawa clan, while Nobunaga took his first steps towards ruling the nation before being assassinated in 1582. It also allowed the freedom of one of the Imagawa clan's prized hostages, a man who would eventually become shogun. Tokugawa Ieyasu!

The battlefield is now a park, with a fine statue of Oda Nobunaga and Imagawa Yoshimoto near where Imagawa is believed to have fallen. The Oda route is well sign-posted in Japanese and English and is easily traced providing a better understanding and appreciation of the battle. Other related historical spots include the Seven Head Mounds, where enemy heads were mass buried, the nearby Chofukuji Temple, where many more heads were interred, the Pine Tree of Military Planning, and the areas where the battle was launched and fought.