The Honnō-ji Incident (本能寺の変, Honnō-ji no Hen) was the assassination of Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto, on 21 June 1582 (2nd day of the sixth month, Tenshō 10). Nobunaga was on the verge of unifying the country, but died in the unexpected rebellion of his vassal Akechi Mitsuhide.
Nobunaga only had a few guards and retainers with him when he was attacked, ending his Sengoku period campaign to unify Japan under his power.Nobunaga's death was avenged two weeks later when his retainer Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeated Mitsuhide in the Battle of Yamazaki, paving the way for Hideyoshi to complete the unification of Japan.