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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
128 events
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.
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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.
12th day of the 9th month, Eiroku 11 (1568)
In the 9th month of Eiroku 11 (1568), Oda Nobunaga's massive army, marching toward Kyoto, attacked the Rokkaku clan of southern Ōmi. When the satellite fortress of Mitsukuri Castle fell in a single night, Rokkaku Yoshikata and his son Yoshiharu abandoned their main stronghold of Kannonji Castle and fled. The bloodless surrender of one of Japan's largest medieval mountain castles stands as a symbolic event.
27th day of the 12th month of Eiroku 11 – 17th day of the 5th month of Eiroku 12 (1569)
The Battle of Kakegawa Castle, fought from the 12th month of Eiroku 11 to the 5th month of Eiroku 12 (1569), in which Tokugawa Ieyasu besieged Imagawa Ujizane, who was holed up in Kakegawa Castle in Tōtōmi Province. After Ujizane's father, Yoshimoto, was lost at the Battle of Okehazama (1560), and as the Imagawa domains collapsed amid Takeda Shingen's invasion (1568), Ujizane took refuge in Kakegawa Castle, his last stronghold. Ultimately, Ujizane surrendered the castle and capitulated, and the prestigious Imagawa clan's lifeline as a Sengoku daimyō house was severed. The fate of Ujizane, known for “waka and kemari over martial arts,” reflects the brutal reality of sword culture in the struggle for warrior hegemony.
Eiroku 11 (1568), 9th month 7th day to 10th month 18th day (old calendar)
How Oda Nobunaga set out from Gifu in 1568 with Ashikaga Yoshiaki, drove the Rokkaku out of southern Omi, pushed the Miyoshi forces out of the home provinces and saw Yoshiaki installed as the 15th Muromachi shogun. The article follows the dates from their July meeting through the September march to the shogunal appointment on the 18th day of the 10th month.
4th month, 18th day – 10th month, 11th day, Eiroku 10 (1567)
From April to October of Eiroku 10 (1567), the allied forces of Matsunaga Hisahide and Miyoshi Yoshitsugu clashed in Nara with the Miyoshi Triumvirate and Tsutsui Junkei. A night attack by Matsunaga's forces on the night of October 10 sparked a fire that destroyed the Great Buddha Hall of Tōdai-ji and the head of the Great Buddha itself, an unprecedented catastrophe.
8th month, Eiroku 10 (1567)
In the 8th month of Eiroku 10 (1567), Oda Nobunaga captured Inabayama Castle (present-day Gifu Castle) from Saitō Tatsuoki in Mino Province through a siege. The defection of the Three Western Mino Commanders, senior retainers of the Saitō clan, proved effective, enabling Nobunaga to finally achieve his long-coveted conquest of Mino. Nobunaga renamed the castle "Gifu Castle" and established it as the base for unifying the realm under the banner of Tenka Fubu.
the 23rd–24th days of the 8th month of Eishō 8 (September 15–16, 1511)
In 1511, forces backing shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane — led by Hosokawa Takakuni and Ōuchi Yoshioki — clashed at Mount Funaoka in Yamashiro Province with the army of Hosokawa Sumimoto, who backed the former shogun Ashikaga Yoshizumi. Takakuni and Yoshioki won a decisive victory; Sumimoto's commanding general Hosokawa Masakata was killed in battle, and Sumimoto fled to Awa.
Eishō 3 (1506) – Eishō 17 (1520)
From Eishō 3 (1506) to Eishō 17 (1520), a large-scale civil war spanning Kantō, Echigo, and Hokuriku grew out of the rebellion of Nagao Tamekage in Echigo. After Tamekage defeated the Echigo shugo, Uesugi Fusayoshi, the Kantō kanrei Uesugi Akisada took up arms in revenge, and the conflict spread to an internal dispute within the Yamanouchi Uesugi clan and to the Koga kubō household. At the Battle of Nagamorihara, Uesugi Akisada was killed in action, and the authority of the Kantō kanrei steadily weakened. The Later Hōjō clan then seized the opportunity to advance into Kantō, opening the path to becoming sengoku daimyo. The incident symbolizes both the decline of the Muromachi shogunate and the dramatic rise of daimyo power.
Tenth month (22nd), Eishō 14 (1517)
The Battle of Arita-Nakaide in Aki Province in Eishō 14 (1517) is famed as the first battle of the young Mōri Motonari. When Takeda Motoshige—former shugo of Aki, backed by the Amago—attacked the Kikkawa-held Arita Castle, the allied Mōri-Kikkawa forces met him in the field. The outnumbered allies slew the Takeda's valiant general Kumagai Motonao and then felled the commander Takeda Motoshige himself with a stray arrow, winning a great victory. It is called "the Okehazama of the West."
1493–1498 (Meiō 2 to Meiō 7)
From Meiō 2 (1493) to Meiō 7 (1498), Later Hōjō clan founder Hōjō Sōun (Ise Sōzui) unified Izu Province. He attacked Horikoshi Gosho, drove out Ashikaga Chachamaru, and over five years pacified all of Izu. Traditionally this was regarded as a forerunner of gekokujō, but recent research indicates that it was linked to the Meiō Coup and gained the justification of a revenge killing of Chachamaru ordered by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshizumi. Holding all of Izu is also an event that symbolizes the emergence of the Sengoku daimyō. Sōun's pacification of Izu was the first step toward the Later Hōjō clan's domination of Kantō, and it promoted the establishment of the Sengoku daimyō system that would come to sweep through Kantō.
Meiō 2 (1493)
In 1493, the kanrei Hosokawa Masamoto deposed Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiki and installed a puppet in his place. This coup effectively ended the authority of the Muromachi shogunate and is considered the moment the Sengoku period truly began.
May 1592 – June 1593 (4th month, Bunroku 1 – 5th month, Bunroku 2)
In 1592, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent 150,000 troops to Korea in his bid for continental conquest. Katō Kiyomasa and Konishi Yukinaga rapidly captured Seoul and Pyongyang, but Admiral Yi Sun-sin's navy and Ming reinforcements forced a reversal, leading to a ceasefire in 1593. It was a large-scale clash between Japanese swords and Korean and Chinese arms.
15th day of 7th month, Bunroku 4 (August 20, 1595)
Toyotomi Hidetsugu, nephew of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Kampaku, was accused of plotting rebellion and ordered to commit seppuku. His wives, concubines, and children, 39 people in all, were executed at Sanjō riverbank. The tragedy symbolized the power struggle that foreshadowed Sekigahara.
6th month, Bunmei 8 (1476) to 24th day of the 6th month, Bunmei 12 (1480)
In 1476 Nagao Kageharu, passed over for the post of chief retainer of the Yamanouchi Uesugi, rebelled and in the first month of 1477 overran the Igako camp. Ōta Dōkan's campaigns destroyed the Toshima and other allies, and in the sixth month of 1480 Kageharu was driven out of Musashi.