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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
175 events
The 2nd day of the intercalary 7th month of Engen 3 / Ryakuo 1 (August 17, 1338)
On the 2nd day of the intercalary 7th month of Engen 3 / Ryakuo 1 (August 17, 1338), Nitta Yoshisada of the Southern Court was killed in a chance battle against forces of Shiba Takatsune of the Ashikaga side at Tomyoji Nawate in Fujishima, Echizen Province. With their supreme commander dead, the Nitta forces collapsed, and soon afterward Ashikaga Takauji was appointed Sei-i Taishogun, marking a turning point toward the establishment of the Muromachi shogunate.
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19 January–5 February 1160 (Heiji 1/12/9–12/26)
The 12th month of Heiji 1 (1159; January–February 1160 in the Western calendar): the second armed coup after the Hōgen Rebellion. Fujiwara no Nobuyori and Minamoto no Yoshitomo confined Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, but Taira no Kiyomori rapidly returned to the capital and suppressed them. Yoshitomo was killed in defeat, and the young Yoritomo was exiled to Izu. This civil war sealed Kiyomori's ascendancy and the fall of the Minamoto.
March 4, 1184 (Juei 3/1/20)
A civil war in the 1st month of Juei 3 (1184), in which Minamoto no Yoshinaka (Kiso Yoshinaka) clashed with Minamoto no Yoritomo's generals Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Noriyori. Yoshinaka deployed his forces along the Uji River as a natural line of defense, but after the famous "senjin arasoi" (the race to be first across) between Kajiwara Kagesue and Sasaki Takatsuna, Yoritomo's army broke through. Yoshinaka was killed at Awazu in Ōmi, and a decisive step toward the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate was marked.
4 March 1184 (Juei 3/1/20)
In the 1st month of Juei 3 (1184), Minamoto no Yoshinaka (Kiso Yoshinaka) was defeated by the forces of Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Noriyori, who acted on Minamoto no Yoritomo's orders, and was killed in the pine grove of Awazu in Ōmi Province (present-day Ōtsu City, Shiga Prefecture). His parting from Tomoe Gozen and his final moments, when his horse became trapped in a deep paddy field on the way to the pine grove and he was felled by an arrow, are told as a highlight of the war tale The Tale of the Heike. Together with Yoshinaka and Tomoe Gozen as symbols of "loyalty and love," they remain deeply engraved in the Japanese memory.
November 17, 1183 (Juei 2, intercalary 10th month, 1st day)
A naval battle fought at Mizushima in Bitchū Province in the intercalary 10th month of Juei 2 (1183), in which the punitive force of Minamoto no Yoshinaka clashed with the Taira navy. An annular solar eclipse occurred during the battle, and the Taira side, said to have been versed in calendrical science, overwhelmed the unsettled Genji forces to win a decisive victory.
June 2, 1183 (11th day, 5th month, Juei 2)
In the 5th month of Juei 2 (1183), Minamoto no Yoshinaka (Kiso Yoshinaka) annihilated the Taira army under Taira no Koremori at Kurikara Pass on the border of Etchū and Kaga provinces. Famous for the legendary 'fire-ox stratagem,' the victory opened Yoshinaka's path to Kyoto and marked a turning point in the Genpei War.
May 1019 (Kannin 3/3/28 to the 4th month)
In Kannin 3 (1019), pirate bands of Jurchen (Nüzhen) people known as the "Toi" suddenly raided Tsushima, Iki, and northern Kyushu. While the imperial court was slow to respond, Fujiwara no Takaie, the acting governor-general of Dazaifu (Dazai no Gon no Sotsu), and others succeeded in driving them off. A recorded foreign invasion 250 years before the Mongol invasions, it is an important event that became an impetus for the rise of the warrior class.
5th day of the 6th month, Hōji 1 (1247)
In the 6th month of Hōji 1 (1247), Hōjō Tokiyori destroyed the clan of Miura Yasumura in Kamakura in a power struggle within the Kamakura shogunate. The mass suicide of the Miura warriors vividly displayed a form of honorable death for samurai, and the coup decisively cemented the Hōjō clan's monopoly of power.
6th–7th months of the 1st year of Emperor Tenmu (672)
The Jinshin War of the 6th–7th months of the 1st year of Emperor Tenmu (672) was the largest civil war of ancient Japan, in which Prince Ōama (later Emperor Tenmu) and Prince Ōtomo (Emperor Kōbun) fought over the imperial throne. Prince Ōama rallied the powerful clans of Mino and Owari, overwhelmed Ōtomo's forces, and after his victory ascended the throne as Emperor Tenmu. The war became the impetus for pushing forward the building of the ritsuryō state.
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.