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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
9 events
August 15–16, 1863 (Bunkyū 3, 7th month, 2nd–3rd day)
A war fought between the Satsuma domain and the British fleet in Kinko Bay on August 15–16, 1863 (Bunkyū 3/7/2–3). In response to seven British warships that arrived demanding reparations for the Namamugi Incident, the Satsuma artillery batteries opened fire. The British vessels burned Satsuma's steamships and bombarded the city, but Satsuma fiercely resisted and severely damaged the British warships. Through this conflict, Satsuma came to understand the futility of the expel-the-barbarians movement, improved relations with Britain, and shifted toward overthrowing the shogunate and pursuing modernization.
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c. 1604 (Keichō 9), per tradition (based on the "Kokura Hibun," "Niten-ki," and other sources compiled after Musashi's death)
A legend holding that in 1604, Miyamoto Musashi fought a duel against the prestigious Yoshioka school of swordsmanship at Ichijōji Sagarimatsu in Kyoto. Tradition holds that Musashi single-handedly prevailed against several hundred disciples, but the account rests on commemorative sources compiled after Musashi's death, and its historicity is subject to scholarly doubt.
6th day of the 5th month, Keichō 20 (1615)
A battle on the 6th day of the 5th month of Keichō 20 (1615) in the Summer Campaign of Ōsaka, fought near Dōmyōji and Konda in Kawachi Province between the Toyotomi army and the Tokugawa Yamato column. Gotō Mototsugu and Susukida Kanesuke, who had gone ahead, were killed, and Sanada Nobushige covered the retreat.
13th day of the 4th month, Keichō 17 (1612), according to the Niten Ki (disputed)
On the 13th day of the 4th month of Keichō 17 (May 13, 1612), Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō fought a one-on-one duel on Ganryūjima Island in Buzen Province. Musashi emerged victorious in the most celebrated single combat in Japanese history.
4th day of the 3rd month – 4th day of the 4th month, Keichō 14 (1609) — from the fleet's departure at Yamakawa to the surrender of Shuri Castle
In 1609, a force of roughly 3,000 troops led by Kabayama Hisataka, acting on the orders of Satsuma domain lord Shimazu Iehisa, invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom. Departing from Yamakawa Harbor, they sailed via Amami Ōshima, Tokunoshima, and Okinoerabujima to land at Unten Harbor, forcing the surrender of Shuri Castle and King Shō Nei. Ryukyu subsequently entered a dual subordination to both Japan and China that lasted until the end of the shogunate.
19th day of the 2nd month, Tenpō 8 (1837)
On March 25, 1837 (19th day of the 2nd month, Tenpō 8), Ōshio Heihachirō, a former aide of the Osaka East Magistrate's office, led an uprising in Osaka under the banner of saving the people. As the largest city revolt of the Edo period, it profoundly influenced the late-shogunate loyalists.
September 5–8, 1864 (Genji 1/8/5–8)
A war fought from Bunkyū 3 to Genji 1 (1863–1864), in which the four-nation allied fleet of Britain, the United States, France, and the Netherlands launched a retaliatory attack on Shimonoseki after the Chōshū Domain fired on foreign ships. On September 5, 1864 (Genji 1/8/5), a 17-ship allied fleet subdued the Chōshū batteries in the Kanmon Strait with a concentrated bombardment, and the Chōshū forces suffered a crushing defeat. The war made the Chōshū Domain realize the impossibility of jōi (expelling foreigners), and it became a turning point toward the overthrow of the shogunate and the Meiji Restoration.
27th day of the 3rd month, Genji 1 (May 2, 1864) — rising at Mount Tsukuba; surrender in Echizen, 17th day of the 12th month, Genji 1 (January 14, 1865)
On the 27th day of the 3rd month of Genji 1 (May 2, 1864), the radical loyalist faction of Mito domain known as the Tengu-tō, led by Fujita Koshirō, raised an insurrection at Mount Tsukuba, clashing with shogunate forces and pro-shogunate domains. After a desperate march toward Kyoto under Takeda Kōunsai, the group surrendered at Tsuruga in Echizen Province; more than 350 members including Takeda Kōunsai were executed. The rebellion was the tragic denouement of the Mito school's expulsionist ideology played out in civil war within the domain that had originated it.
December 11, 1637 – April 12, 1638 (Kan'ei 14, 10th month, 25th day – Kan'ei 15, 2nd month, 28th day)
In Kan'ei 14–15 (1637–1638), Christian peasants of Shimabara in Hizen Province and Amakusa in Higo Province rose against the shogunate with Amakusa Shirō Tokisada as their leader. About 37,000 people shut themselves up in Hara Castle and were crushed after fierce fighting against a shogunate army of 120,000. It was the largest uprising of the Edo period and the event that sealed the policy of national seclusion.