Believed to have been born around 1535 as the daughter of the Mino warlord Saito Dosan and his wife Omi no Kata. Also called Kicho. In 1549, she married Oda Nobunaga of Owari in a political alliance; Nobunaga was then 15 or 16 and rumored to be a fool. On her wedding day, her father gave her a dagger and said, 'If Nobunaga truly is a fool, kill him with this.' Nohime reportedly replied, 'This dagger might be turned on you, Father.' Beyond this, almost no historical records survive about her life. Whether she died alongside Nobunaga at Honno-ji, lived out her days in Azuchi, or something else entirely remains debated. She is one of the most enigmatic women of the Sengoku era.

Intelligent and strong-willed. Said to have inherited her father Dosan's shrewdness, she was one of the few people who could speak frankly to Nobunaga without fear. The mystery of her life has led to many different portrayals in later fiction.

She is recorded in Sengoku history as Nobunaga's principal wife, yet her true life remains a mystery. The 'kill him if he's a fool' exchange with her father is widely known as an emblem of Sengoku women's spirit. She is a perennially popular character in historical dramas and novels.