Battle of Ueda

The Battle of Ueda refers to the collective designation for the battles that unfolded twice at Ueda Castle in Shinano Province—in Tenshō 13 (1585) and Keichō 5 (1600). In both instances, just thousands of soldiers led by Sanada Masayuki and his son Yukimura repelled vast Tokugawa armies numbering several to over ten times their strength, and are handed down as the most dramatic defensive sieges in the history of the Sengoku period.

Sanada Masayuki and Ueda Castle

Sanada Masayuki (1547–1611) was a military commander of the Takeda clan of Kai who distinguished himself as a brilliant strategist. It is said that in his youth he served Takeda Shingen in close attendance, and Shingen trusted him so greatly that he was called "my two eyes." Even after Shingen's death, Masayuki remained central to the Takeda clan's operations. Following the fall of the Takeda clan in Tenshō 10 (1582), Masayuki, as a small daimyo of Ueda in Shinano positioned among the great powers—Oda, Uesugi, Tokugawa, and Hōjō—maintained his independence while preserving his house through superior diplomacy and stratagem.

Ueda Castle was a flat castle built by Masayuki in Tenshō 11 (1583). It was a formidable stronghold that cleverly exploited the natural defenses of the Amagafuchi cliff and the Chikuma River, characterized by a design that was "difficult to assault and easy to defend." During the castle's construction, it is said that even the swords and farm implements of retainers were requisitioned, and work proceeded at a rapid pace—testament to the depth of Masayuki's obsession with castle building.

The First Battle of Ueda (Tenshō 13, 1585)

The direct cause of the first battle was a dispute with the Tokugawa clan over the allegiance of the Sanada house. In Tenshō 13, Tokugawa Ieyasu demanded that Sanada Masayuki cede the territory of Numata (present-day Numata City, Gunma Prefecture) to the Hōjō clan. When Masayuki refused, the Tokugawa clan undertook the conquest of Ueda Castle with a force of 7,000 troops.

Masayuki skillfully employed a feint strategy. After drawing out the Tokugawa army in front of the castle through skirmishes beyond the walls, a detached force previously positioned struck the enemy from the rear and flank simultaneously. Combined with coordinated attacks from the castle's various gates, Masayuki inflicted heavy losses on the Tokugawa army. In this battle, fierce Tokugawa generals such as Torii Mototatsu were driven back, and the attacking force was compelled to withdraw.

The swords carried by Sanada soldiers centered on sturdy, practical field blades and tachi forged by sword smiths of Shinano and Kai in this period. Inheriting the military culture of the Takeda clan retainers, the Sanada house maintained a tradition of selecting the sword not as "decoration" but as a "tool of actual warfare." Masayuki himself, it is said, eschewed ostentation and favored robust swords capable of withstanding real combat.

The Second Battle of Ueda (Keichō 5, 1600)

The second battle is positioned as a preliminary engagement to the Battle of Sekigahara in Keichō 5 (1600). While father and son—Masayuki and Yukimura—sided with the western coalition of Ishida Mitsunari, the eldest son, Nobuyuki (Nobuyoshi), joined the eastern forces through his connection as son-in-law of Honda Masatsu. Amid this dramatic division in which parent and child became enemies, Masayuki and Yukimura barricaded themselves in Ueda Castle.

A main force of 38,000 great troops led by Tokugawa Hidetada of the eastern forces advanced on Ueda Castle. Masayuki again wielded brilliant stratagems, repeatedly maneuvering the Tokugawa army through skirmishing outside the castle, feigned retreats, and surprise attacks. The "Battle of the Kankawa" is particularly famous—where Tokugawa forces attempting to cross the Kankawa River below the castle were driven to near annihilation through volleys of musket fire and flank attacks.

What is especially noteworthy in this battle is the skillful deployment of firearms and bows within the castle. The Sanada house had inherited and developed the musketeers from the Takeda clan era, and in the defensive siege they unleashed their full power. Alongside hand-to-hand combat with swords, long-range suppression by matchlock firearms held the key to the Second Battle of Ueda.

The great army of Tokugawa Hidetada, unable to capture Ueda Castle, arrived significantly late to the Battle of Sekigahara on September 15. This lateness incurred the wrath of Ieyasu, and Hidetada was reportedly shunned by his father for an extended period. The defensive siege by Sanada Masayuki was a major event that transformed the strategic map of the Battle of Sekigahara.

The Sword-Culture Significance of the Battle of Ueda

What is particularly famous regarding the Sanada family and swords is the anecdote surrounding Sanada Yukimura (Nobushige) and the "Sanada Six Coins." The six coins signify the fare for crossing the River of Three Crossings, and served as the family crest symbolizing the martial spirit of the Sanada house—"always prepared for death." The martial implements of the Sanada house, upon which this family crest was carved on flag-bearing poles and armor, were treasured in later ages as embodying "the aesthetics of a warrior family in battle," together with swords.

It is also said that Masayuki utilized swords as a tool of stratagem. Before the first battle, the attitude Masayuki displayed toward Tokugawa envoys—responding cordially outside the castle while steadily preparing for defense within—was an embodiment of the strategic thinking of "showing the sword while reassuring the opponent."

The Battle of Ueda became established in Sengoku battle history as "the ideal form in which a small force repels a great army." Sanada Masayuki is handed down as "Japan's greatest strategist," and his skillful defensive siege is highly valued today from the perspectives of military history and castle architecture. Together with Yukimura's heroic death in the Summer Campaign of Osaka Castle, the saga of the Sanada clan stands as a great epic of the Way of the Warrior engraved in the hearts of the Japanese people.