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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
290 events
Chōwa 5 – Manju 4 (1016–1027)
In the early eleventh century, under Fujiwara no Michinaga and his son Yorimichi, the regent-politics system reached its zenith. While aristocratic culture flourished, warriors were beginning to rise in the provinces—a period coinciding with the technological transition from the earlier warabite-tō to the curved tachi that would become the iconic Japanese sword. The end of regent politics marked the historical turning point that led to insei rule and ultimately to warrior government.
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1028–1031 (Chōgen 1–4)
From 1028 to 1031 (Chōgen 1–4), Taira no Tadatsune, a powerful figure in the three Bōsō provinces (Kazusa, Shimōsa, and Awa), rose up against provincial governor rule. The first court commander, Taira no Naokata, failed to suppress him over three years; when Minamoto no Yorinobu, governor of Kai, took command, Tadatsune surrendered without a fight. The rebellion's resolution became the starting point for Kawachi Genji expansion into eastern Japan and the rise of the warrior class.
Late Kamakura to early Nanboku-chō period (first half of the 14th century)
From the late Kamakura period into the early Nanboku-chō period, Shizu Saburō Kaneuji—a Yamato-born disciple of Masamune counted among his "Ten Disciples"—relocated to Shizu in Mino Province, followed by Kanshige, who moved from Tsuruga in Echizen to Seki. Their fusion of Yamato-den and Sōshū-den techniques, oriented toward practical utility, took root in Mino, establishing the last of the Five Traditions (Gokaden): the Mino tradition.
April 28, 866 (Jōgan 8, intercalary 3rd month, 10th day)
In 866, the burning of the Ōten Gate in Heian-kyō led to the downfall and exile of Major Counselor Tomo no Yoshio. Regent Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's handling of the affair secured his position as the first subject outside the imperial family to serve as regent, marking a decisive step in the Fujiwara clan's rise to dominance over rival court families.
1350–1352 (Kannō 1–3)
Kannō 1–3 (1350–1352): the internal conflict within the Muromachi shogunate between Ashikaga Takauji and his younger brother Ashikaga Tadayoshi. Takauji's shitsuji, Kō no Moronao, came into violent conflict with Tadayoshi. After Moronao was executed, Takauji and Tadayoshi reconciled but fought again. Tadayoshi, defeated, died suddenly (there is also a theory that he was poisoned), and the conflict ended. It was the greatest internal conflict of the shogunate and further complicated the turmoil of the Nanboku-chō period.
527–528 (Keitai 21–22)
In 527–528 (Keitai 21–22), Tsukushi no Kimi Iwai, a powerful chieftain who independently controlled northern Kyushu, allied with Silla to block a Yamato court expedition bound for the Korean peninsula. After fierce fighting with a court army led by Mononobe no Arakahi, the uprising was crushed—one of the largest regional rebellions recorded in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki.
12th day of the 6th month, Kōgyoku 4 (645)
In the 6th month of 645, Prince Naka no Ōe and Nakatomi no Kamatari assassinated Soga no Iruka within the court. One of the earliest documented political assassinations using ancient Japanese straight swords, it is a pivotal event in the history of the sword's origins.
November 9, 1180 (20th day, 10th month, Jishō 4)
In the 10th month of Jishō 4 (1180), at the Fuji River in Suruga Province, the eastern warrior coalition under Minamoto no Yoritomo routed the pursuing Taira force led by Taira no Koremori. The Taira army's legendary flight at the sound of startled waterbirds masked the real significance: the rapid consolidation of Kantō warriors behind Yoritomo, establishing the foundation of what would become the Kamakura shogunate.
23rd day of the 8th month, Jishō 4 (1180)
On the 23rd day of the 8th month of Jishō 4 (1180), Minamoto no Yoritomo, having just raised his banner in Izu, suffered a crushing defeat at Ishibashiyama in Sagami Province against the far larger Taira-aligned army of Ōba Kagechika. Yoritomo narrowly escaped with his life to Awa Province, rallied the warriors of the eastern provinces, and entered Kamakura in the 10th month of that year. This defeat — said to be the only one of his career — proved the turning point toward the founding of the Kamakura shogunate.
5th month, Jishō 4 (1180) – 3rd month, Juei 4 (1185)
A civil war fought by the Minamoto and Taira across Japan from Jishō 4 (1180) to Juei 4 (1185). This five-year war marked a fundamental turning point in the history of the Japanese sword. The tachi style, completed in the late Heian period, was put into actual combat. It is a campaign deeply engraved in later literature and performing arts, including Yoshitsune's stratagems, Taira no Tomomori's loyalty, and the fate of the Three Sacred Treasures.
4th month, 9th day – 5th month, 26th day, Jishō 4 (1180)
The 1180 attempt by Prince Mochihito, a son of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, and Minamoto no Yorimasa to overthrow the Taira. The plot was discovered, and after fleeing to Onjō-ji both leaders were killed following the bridge battle at Uji. The uprising failed, but his edict spurred Minamoto risings elsewhere.
January 15, 1181 (Jishō 4, 12th month, 28th day)
On the 28th day of the 12th month of Jishō 4 (1180), Taira forces under Taira no Shigehira, sent by Taira no Kiyomori, attacked Nara, and most of the main halls of Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji were destroyed by fire. The article covers the background, the advance headquartered at Hannya-ji, the damage to the Great Buddha Hall, the differing casualty figures, and the reconstruction led by Chōgen.
c. 1180–1192 CE (Jishō 4 – Kenkyū 3)
From the Jishō–Juei War (1180–1185) through the Bunji and Kenkyū eras (1185–1199), the cloistered-rule system dominated by the court nobility collapsed, and the warrior government led by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the Kamakura shogunate, reshaped Japan's system of rule.
c. Eiroku period (1558–1570)
During the mid-Sengoku period, in the Eiroku era (1558–1570), Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami Nobutsuna (born around 1508) developed Kage-ryū and founded Shinkage-ryū. He devised the fukuro shinai (split bamboo sheathed in a leather bag), bringing a revolution to training, and systematized the philosophy of katsujinken (the life-giving sword), which subdues an opponent, rather than setsunintō (the death-dealing sword). Around Eiroku 7 (1564), he performed a demonstration before Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru. He then passed on the inner teachings to Yagyū Muneyoshi, laying the foundations of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū.
19th day, 5th month, Eiroku 8 (June 17, 1565)
An incident in which, on the 19th day of the 5th month of Eiroku 8 (1565), forces of the Miyoshi Sanningumi and Matsunaga Hisamichi raided the palace of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru and killed him. Records state that Yoshiteru fought bravely to the end, wielding a naginata and swords himself, and in later ages an anecdote arose that he had stuck several famous swords into the tatami and fought while switching from one to the next. Yoshiteru's mother, Keijuin, also killed herself on the same day. Known as the death most closely tied to swords in Japanese history, this historical event symbolizes the life of Yoshiteru, who was called the “Swordmaster Shogun.”
15th day of the 10th month, Eiroku 8 (1565) — the date traditionally given for Obu Toramasa's death; Yoshinobu was confined at Tōkō-ji and died in 1567
In 1565 (Eiroku 8), Takeda Shingen's heir Yoshinobu was confined at Tōkō-ji over an alleged plot, and his guardian Obu Toramasa took his own life. The affair is understood against the shift in Takeda diplomacy after Okehazama and the changing relationship with the Imagawa. Yoshinobu died two years later.
Eiroku 8–9 (1565–1566)
From Eiroku 8 (1565) through the following year, Mōri Motonari besieged and conquered Gassan-Toda Castle, the seat of the Amago clan in Izumo Province. Through a starvation siege lasting over a year, Motonari reduced the famously impregnable Gassan-Toda Castle and established hegemony over the Chūgoku region. The Amago clan was annihilated and Izumo became Mōri territory.
The 7th to 8th days of the 1st month of Eiroku 7 (1564)
In the 1st month of Eiroku 7 (1564), the Later Hōjō forces led by the father and son Hōjō Ujiyasu and Hōjō Ujimasa inflicted a crushing defeat on the forces of Satomi Yoshihiro at Kōnodai (present-day Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture). The victorious Hōjō then extended their power into Kazusa, making this battle an important turning point in the history of the eastern provinces during the Sengoku period.
6th day of the 2nd month, Eiroku 7 (1564)
In the 2nd month of Eiroku 7 (1564), Takenaka Shigeharu (Hanbei) seized the seemingly impregnable Inabayama Castle with just sixteen men. Born of indignation at his lord Saitō Tatsuoki's incompetence, this audacious coup became the founding legend of Hanbei's reputation as one of the Sengoku era's supreme strategists.
Erupted in the 9th month of Eiroku 6 (1563); the Battle of Batōga-hara was fought on the 15th day of the 1st month of Eiroku 7 (1564), and a truce followed in spring of the same year
From the 9th month of Eiroku 6 (1563) to the spring of Eiroku 7 (1564), Jōdo Shinshū (Hongan-ji) followers in Mikawa Province and the "Three Temples of Mikawa" (Honshōji, Jōgūji, Shōmanji) rose up against the rule of Matsudaira Ieyasu. Part of Ieyasu's own retainer band defected to the rebel side, splitting his forces, but Ieyasu's side prevailed at the Battle of Batōga-hara and a truce followed.
3rd month, Eiroku 4 (1561) — start of the siege; dates approximate
In the 3rd month of Eiroku 4 (1561), Nagao Kagetora of Echigo, later Uesugi Kenshin, led a coalition of Kanto warlords to besiege Hojo Ujiyasu's seat at Odawara Castle, but Ujiyasu held out and the castle did not fall. On the way home Kagetora is said to have received the post of Kanto Kanrei and the Uesugi name from Uesugi Norimasa at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kamakura, taking the name Uesugi Masatora. The ceremony of succession, more than the outcome of the siege, gave the episode lasting significance.
Eiroku 3 to Genki 1 (1560–1570), a series of repeated confrontations
From 1560 to 1570, Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo repeatedly attacked Karasawayama Castle in Shimotsuke Province (present-day Sano City, Tochigi Prefecture), held by Sano Masatsuna. Despite years of campaigns against this formidable fortress — one of the "Seven Great Castles of Kanto" — Kenshin never fully subdued it, as Masatsuna repeatedly surrendered and defected between the Uesugi and Hōjō camps to preserve his clan.
10th month, Eiroku 12 (1569)
In the 10th month of Eiroku 12 (1569), during Takeda Shingen's invasion of Sagami after he broke the Kōsōsun Triple Alliance, a clash took place with Hōjō forces that pursued the Takeda army as it withdrew from the siege of Odawara. At Mimasetōge Pass (present-day Aikawa Town, Aiko District, Kanagawa Prefecture), the Takeda army defeated the Hōjō pursuit force and succeeded in returning to Kai. It is said that a detached unit led by Yamagata Masakage struck the Hōjō forces by surprise from Shida Pass, tipping the battle in the Takeda's favor.
5th–6th day of the 1st month, Eiroku 12 (1569)
In the 1st month of Eiroku 12 (1569), the Miyoshi Triumvirate attacked shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki at Honkokuji temple in Kyoto. Defenders including Akechi Mitsuhide held out until allied forces relieved the siege, prompting Oda Nobunaga to issue restrictive edicts on the shogun's court and to build the fortified Nijō New Palace.