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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
103 events
August 27 – September 8, 1600 (Keichō 5, 7th month, 19th day – 8th month, 1st day)
The Battle of Fushimi Castle (1600) was the opening engagement of the Sekigahara campaign. Torii Mototada, Tokugawa Ieyasu's veteran retainer, held the castle with roughly 1,800 men against a Western Army of some 40,000 for more than ten days before the castle fell. Mototada's death and the blood-stained floorboards — preserved in temples as 'blood ceilings' — became powerful symbols of samurai loyalty on the eve of the battle that unified Japan.
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24th day of the 8th month, Keicho 5 (old calendar; 1 October 1600; skirmishing from the 23rd)
A battle on the 24th day of the 8th month of Keicho 5 (old calendar; 1 October 1600), when Tomita Nobutaka and Wakebe Mitsuyoshi, in Anotsu Castle in Ise, were attacked by some 30,000 Western Army troops under Mori Hidemoto, Natsuka Masaie, Ankokuji Ekei and others. The article follows the fighting, the surrender mediated by Mokujiki Oyo, the later fortunes of the Tomita, and the castle site.
22nd day of the 12th month, Keicho 2 to 4th day of the 1st month, Keicho 3 (old calendar; 29 January to 9 February 1598 in the Gregorian calendar)
A battle at Ulsan in Korea from the 22nd day of the 12th month of Keicho 2 to the 4th day of the 1st month of Keicho 3 (29 January to 9 February 1598), in which Kato Kiyomasa and others in an unfinished castle withstood a Ming and Korean siege. The article follows the surprise attack, the fall of the outer works, the shortage of food and water, the gathering of relief forces, the failure of the final assault and the retreat.
Keichō 2 (1597) – Keichō 3 (1598)
In Keichō 2 (1597), after a four-year truce that followed the Bunroku Campaign, Toyotomi Hideyoshi again sent a large army to Korea. The war records the realities of early modern warfare, in which Japanese swords and matchlocks were used together. It includes the siege of Ulsan Castle led by Katō Kiyomasa and the Battle of Noryang Strait, where Shimazu Yoshihiro and others struggled. With Hideyoshi's death, the war lost its purpose and all Japanese forces withdrew. It inflicted immense human and cultural losses on the Korean Peninsula.
4th–5th month of Keichō 20 (1615)
In the 5th month of Keichō 20 (1615), Tokugawa Ieyasu destroyed the Toyotomi house in the final battle. Sanada Yukimura charged in a desperate assault toward Ieyasu's main encampment, and his fierce last stand was praised as "the finest warrior in Japan."
January 3, 1615 (Keichō 19, 12th month, 4th day)
A battle fought around Sanada-maru, the outwork Sanada Nobushige (Yukimura) built south of Osaka Castle during the Winter Siege of 1614. Toyotomi defenders repelled the Tokugawa vanguard under Maeda Toshitsune, Ii Naotaka and Matsudaira Tadanao, and the campaign then moved toward a peace settlement and the filling of the moats.
10th–12th month of Keichō 19 (1614)
From the 10th to the 12th month of Keichō 19 (1614), Tokugawa Ieyasu laid siege to Toyotomi Hideyori's castle, Osaka Castle. Sanada Yukimura built the Sanada-maru and repelled the Tokugawa forces. The battle became a complex siege in which cannon bombardment and peace negotiations were intertwined. It was the direct prelude to the following year's Summer Campaign.
September 27, 1556 (24th day, 8th month, Kōji 2)
The fratricidal battle between Oda Nobunaga and his younger brother Oda Nobuyuki (Nobukatsu), which broke out at Inō in Owari Province (present-day Nishi Ward, Nagoya City) on September 27, 1556 (Kōji 2/8/24). With fewer than 700 troops, Nobunaga defeated the 1,700-strong force of Nobuyuki's side, led by Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Mimasaka-no-kami (Michitomo), and gained the upper hand in the struggle over the family headship.
May 28, 1556 (Kōji 2, 4th month, 20th day)
The battle in which Saitō Dōsan was killed on the 20th day of the 4th month of Kōji 2 (1556) while fighting the army led by his biological son, Saitō Yoshitatsu, on the bank of the Nagara River in Mino Province (present-day Gifu City). Dōsan, known by the nickname "Viper of Mino" (mamushi), met his end after being betrayed by his son. The battle dealt a severe shock to Oda Nobunaga, who had relied on the support of his father-in-law, Dōsan.
September 4–26, 1573 (8th day of the 8th month – 1st day of the 9th month, Tenshō 1)
A battle in which, in Tenshō 1 (1573), Oda Nobunaga launched an all-out assault on Odani Castle (Ōmi Province, present-day Shiga Prefecture), the stronghold of Azai Nagamasa. Odani Castle was a mountain fortress renowned throughout the realm, but it fell before Nobunaga's large army and the coordinated attacks of his generals. Azai Nagamasa took his own life, and the Azai clan was destroyed. This siege greatly opened the way for Nobunaga's unification of the realm.
8th month, Tenshō 1 (1573)
In the 8th month of Tenshō 1 (1573), Asakura Yoshikage abandoned his main castle, Ichijodani Castle, and fled after Oda Nobunaga's fierce pursuit. The Asakura clan, which had enjoyed a century of prosperity, was destroyed within just a few days.
April 25, 1581 (22nd day, 3rd month, Tenshō 9)
On the 22nd day of the 3rd month of Tenshō 9 (April 25, 1581), Takatenjin Castle in Tōtōmi Province (present-day Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture) fell to Tokugawa forces. Takeda Katsuyori was unable to send relief to the besieged garrison, and the castle commander Okabe Motonobu and many of his men were killed. The Takeda retainers' disillusionment with Katsuyori, who had failed to hold Takatenjin, became decisive, making this tragic siege the turning point toward the fall of the Takeda clan the following year.
9th month, Tenshō 9 (1581)
In the 9th month of Tenshō 9 (1581), Oda Nobunaga appointed his second son, Nobukatsu, as commander-in-chief and invaded Iga Province with an army of more than 40,000 men. It was the "Second Tenshō Iga War," ordered by Nobunaga to avenge the failure of the first invasion two years earlier (Tenshō 7). Iga, known as the home of the shinobi, attempted organized resistance, but in the face of overwhelming numerical superiority it was destroyed within a few days. This battle is a rare historical case in which the sword culture of the samurai directly collided with the culture of ninja concealed weapons and daggers.
Tenshō 9 – Tenshō 13 (1581–1585)
Sassa Narimasa, a commander of the Oda house, entered Toyama Castle in 1581 and the following year was given charge of all of Etchū Province, fighting the Uesugi at Uozu and elsewhere. After the Honnō-ji Incident he sided with Shibata Katsuie and later with Tokugawa Ieyasu against Hashiba Hideyoshi, and in the 8th month of Tenshō 13 (1585) he surrendered when Hideyoshi's great army surrounded Toyama Castle (the Toyama Campaign).
6th month, Tenshō 7 (1579)
In the 6th month of Tenshō 7 (1579), Akechi Mitsuhide brought down the impregnable Yagami Castle (present-day Tanba-Sasayama City, Hyōgo Prefecture) during his campaign to subdue Tanba, which had lasted several years. Castellan Hatano Hideharu and his brothers were executed on Nobunaga's orders. After the capture of Kuroi Castle in the 8th month of the same year, all of Tanba Province came under Mitsuhide's control. Mitsuhide's governance of Tanba is also closely tied to legends surrounding the later Honnō-ji Incident.
3rd month, Tenshō 6 (1578) – 1st month, Tenshō 8 (1580)
From Tenshō 6 to 8 (1578–1580), Hashiba Hideyoshi besieged Miki Castle in Harima Province (present-day Miki City, Hyōgo Prefecture), held by Bessho Nagaharu, with a starvation blockade lasting two years. The campaign became synonymous with Hideyoshi's "hoshigoroshi" (starving-out) tactic, and Bessho Nagaharu took his own life to save his garrison. The resolve of a lord who cared for his soldiers, and his end by the blade, are remembered as one of the great scenes of history.
3rd month, Tenshō 6 (1578) – 3rd month, Tenshō 7 (1579)
Triggered by the sudden death of Uesugi Kenshin, ruler of Echigo Province, in Tenshō 6 (1578), a succession dispute broke out within the Uesugi family between Kenshin's adopted sons Kagekatsu (Nagao Akikage) and Kagetora (Hōjō Saburō). The civil war, which split Echigo in two, lasted about two years and ended with Kagekatsu's victory.
December 10, 1578 (Tenshō 6/11/12)
In the 11th month of Tenshō 6 (1578), the Shimazu army led by Shimazu Yoshihisa crushed the large army of Otomo Sorin in Hyuga Province (present-day Miyazaki Prefecture). It is also called the Battle of the Takajō River after the site of the decisive fighting. The Otomo army was destroyed by the Shimazu "tsuri-nobuse" tactic, and many drowned in the Mimikawa River during the rout. A major turning point in the "Three Kingdoms of Kyushu" struggle, it opened the way to the decline of the Otomo and the Shimazu domination of Kyushu.
21st day of the 10th month of Tenshō 6 (1578) – 9th month of Tenshō 7 (1579)
In the 10th month of Tenshō 6 (1578), Araki Murashige, a senior vassal of Oda Nobunaga, suddenly rebelled and holed up in Itami Castle in Settsu Province (present-day Itami, Hyōgo Prefecture). He kept refusing Nobunaga's repeated demands for surrender, and in the 9th month of Tenshō 7 (1579) he escaped from the castle and disappeared. Afterward, more than 600 of his wife, children, and retainers were executed. The true reason for the rebellion remains shrouded in mystery, and it is still passed down as one of the most puzzling betrayals in Japanese history.
November 3, 1577 (23rd day, 9th month, Tenshō 5)
In the 9th month of Tenshō 5 (1577), Uesugi Kenshin's forces reportedly pursued Oda Nobunaga's retreating great army and inflicted heavy losses at the Tedorigawa River (present-day Ishikawa Prefecture). Known as the great victory of Kenshin's final years, it displayed the martial power of the "Dragon of Echigo" to the country. However, Kenshin's sudden death the following year turned the victory into a "what if" of history.
10th month, Tenshō 5 (1577)
In the 10th month of Tenshō 5 (1577), at Shigisan Castle in Yamato Province (present-day Heguri Town, Nara Prefecture), Matsunaga Hisahide was surrounded by the forces of Oda Nobunaga and his son Nobutada, set fire to the main keep, and took his own life. Hisahide's figure, who met a dramatic end after smashing the famous tea kettle 'Hiragumo,' has been handed down to later generations as 'the pride of a scheming general.'
Tenshō 5–6 (1577–1578)
In 1578, a Mōri army besieged Kōzuki Castle, held by Amago Katsuhisa and Yamanaka Yukimori (Shikanosuke) in an attempt to restore the Amago clan. Oda Nobunaga ordered Hashiba Hideyoshi to abandon relief efforts; Katsuhisa took his own life and Yukimori was assassinated in custody, ending the Amago restoration movement.
August 7, 1576 (Tenshō 4/7/13) / December 4, 1578 (Tenshō 6/11/6)
A naval battle fought on two occasions, in Tenshō 4 (1576) and Tenshō 6 (1578), off Kizugawaguchi (the mouth of the Kizu River) in Settsu (present-day Osaka City). Nobunaga's navy, which sought to block the Mōri navy's transport of provisions, suffered a devastating defeat in the first battle. In the second, it repulsed the Mōri navy with great ships called tekkōsen (iron-clad ships) that Kuki Yoshitaka had built, and which are said to have been equipped with iron armor.
7th day of the 5th month, Tenshō 4 (June 3, 1576)
In the 5th month of Tenshō 4 (1576), during the Ishiyama War, Oda Nobunaga attacked and defeated the Hongan-ji forces that were besieging the Tennōji fort in Osaka. In this fierce battle Nobunaga himself was wounded by a musket ball, yet he turned the tide.