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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
296 events
July 12, 1441 (Kakitsu 1, 6th month, 24th day)
In the 6th month of Kakitsu 1 (1441), Akamatsu Mitsusuke, daimyo of Harima, Bizen, and Mimasaka provinces, assassinated Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori by inviting him to his residence—a political coup. It arose from backlash against Yoshinori's reign of terror, which was called "Terror of All Men." Mitsusuke was defeated by the shogunate army shortly after, and both the power of the daimyo and the authority of the shogun were greatly shaken.
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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.
August 20, 1864 (19th day, 7th month, Genji 1)
In the 7th month of Genji 1 (1864), Chōshū domain samurai clashed with the combined forces of Satsuma and Aizu at the Hamaguri-gomon, one of the kinmon gates of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. It was the greatest street battle of the Bakumatsu period. The "Genji Fire (Dondon-yake)" burned some 30,000 houses in the city of Kyoto, and the Chōshū domain was designated an "imperial enemy." The Shinsengumi joined the suppression. This was the turning point at which the political conflict of the Bakumatsu period led to armed clash.
Uprising on the night of the 15th day of the 12th month of Genji 1 (January 12, 1865); after fighting at Edō, Ōta, and Akamura through the 1st–2nd months of Genji 2 (1865), Hagi Castle was seized on the 14th day of the 2nd month of Genji 2 (March 11, 1865)
On the night of the 15th day of the 12th month of Genji 1 (January 12, 1865), Takasugi Shinsaku led a force of just 84 men in an uprising at Kōzan-ji temple in Chōfu against the conservative "junronha" faction that had taken control of Chōshū domain and submitted to the shogunate. Joined by the domain's irregular militia units, the rebels won a string of victories and seized Hagi Castle by the 2nd month of Genji 2 (1865), swinging Chōshū policy decisively toward overthrowing the shogunate.
7th–12th month, Genji 1 (1864–1865)
In the 8th month of Genji 1 (1864), the Tokugawa shogunate organized a large-scale punitive expedition against the Chōshū Domain, which had fired on the imperial court during the Kinmon Incident. With Saigō Takamori serving as mediator, the Chōshū Domain apologized and submitted, and the campaign ended without bloodshed.
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.
March 22, 1185 (19th day, 2nd month, Genryaku 2)
In the 2nd month of Genryaku 2 (1185), Minamoto no Yoshitsune launched a surprise attack on the Taira forces at Yashima on Shikoku, an important battle of the Genpei War. The crossing through the storm, Nasu no Yoichi's shooting of the fan target, and Akushichibyōe Kagekiyo's pulling of the shikoro: the fighting on both sea and land at the water's edge showed Yoshitsune's brilliant generalship and paved the way to Dan-no-ura.
8th month of Genkō 1 (1331) – 5th month of Genkō 3 (1333)
In Genkō 1 (1331), Emperor Go-Daigo raised an army at Kasagi to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate. The brilliant defensive stand of Kusunoki Masashige at Chihaya Castle pinned down the massive shogunate forces, buying time until Ashikaga Takauji and Nitta Yoshisada defected. In Genkō 3 (1333), Kamakura fell. The 140-year Kamakura shogunate was destroyed, triggering the Kenmu Restoration and ultimately the Nanbokuchō civil war.
June 20 – July 4, 1333 (8th–22nd day, 5th month, Genkō 3)
A historic battle in which, in the 5th month of Genkō 3 (1333), Nitta Yoshisada raised an army in response to the call to topple the bakufu issued by Emperor Go-Daigo's imperial side and took Kamakura, the stronghold of the Kamakura bakufu. The miracle of the receding tide at Inamuragasaki and the mass suicide of the Hōjō clan (the Tōshōji Battle) are recorded in Japanese history as the first turning point of the age of warriors, marking the fall of the Kamakura bakufu.
June 19, 1333 (Genkō 3, 5th month, 7th day)
On the 7th day of the 5th month of Genkō 3 (June 19, 1333), Ashikaga Takauji raised his banner against the shogunate and seized the Rokuhara Tandai in Kyoto. The collapse of this administrative center—the shogunate's 'eyes in the west,' which had dominated Kyoto for over 110 years since the Jōkyū Rebellion (1221)—became the decisive prelude to the Kamakura shogunate's fall on the 22nd day of the same month. This marked the end of the golden age of sword-craft in the late Kamakura period when Masamune flourished, and heralded the transition to the age of the ōdachi of the Northern and Southern Courts era.
2nd–5th month, 1333 CE (Genkō 3)
In 1333 (Genkō 3), Kusunoki Masashige held Chihaya Castle, built on the natural fortifications of Mount Kongō (in present-day Chihaya Akasaka Village, Osaka Prefecture), with only a few hundred troops against the Kamakura shogunate's tens of thousands. This siege, waged through stratagem and unwavering resolve, tied down the shogunate's forces for several months. While this struggle unfolded, Nitta Yoshisada attacked Kamakura itself, leading to the shogunate's collapse. The Battle of Chihaya Castle remains deeply engraved in Japanese sword and military-chronicle culture as a miraculous siege—testament to how tactical ingenuity against overwhelming numerical odds can alter the course of history.
1333–1336 CE (Genkō 3 – Kenmu 3)
Emperor Go-Daigo's brief imperial restoration (1333–1336) following the fall of the Kamakura shogunate. The conflict between loyalists like Kusunoki Masashige and Ashikaga Takauji's revolt led to the Nanbokuchō split and the rise of the Ashikaga shogunate.
July 30, 1570 (Genki 1, 6th month, 28th day)
In the 6th month of Genki 1 (1570), the allied forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu clashed with those of Azai Nagamasa and Asakura Yoshikage in a pitched battle at the banks of the Anegawa River in Ōmi Province. The fierce efforts of Tokugawa Ieyasu's retainer Sakakibara Yasumasa and others turned the tide of battle, and the Oda-Tokugawa forces achieved victory. This battle accelerated the collapse of the Azai-Asakura alliance.
4th month, Genki 1 (1570)
In the 4th month of Genki 1 (1570), at Kanegasaki Castle in Tsuruga, Echizen Province (now Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture), Oda Nobunaga was invading Echizen to subdue Asakura Yoshikage when the sudden betrayal of his ally Azai Nagamasa put him at risk of being caught between two enemy forces. He broke through in a withdrawal battle, leaving Kinoshita Hideyoshi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) behind as rear guard. The Kanegasaki no Nokikuchi (the Kanegasaki withdrawal), in which Hideyoshi is said to have gained a foothold toward becoming ruler of the realm, is remembered as one of the finest withdrawals of the Sengoku period.
9th–12th month, Genki 1 (1570)
From the 9th to the 12th month of Genki 1 (1570), the combined forces of Asai Nagamasa and Asakura Yoshikage took refuge on Mt. Hiei together with Enryaku-ji and faced off against Nobunaga in the Siege of Shiga. Nobunaga was forced to accept a humiliating peace brokered by the imperial court, but the standoff became a turning point that hardened his resolve to burn Mt. Hiei the following year.
20th day of the 8th month, Genki 1 (1570)
In the 8th month of Genki 1 (1570), during the Battle of Imayama, the great army of Ōtomo Sōrin besieged Saga Castle (Sagajō; the site of the later Saga Castle), the stronghold of Ryūzōji Takanobu. Nabeshima Nobunari (later Naoshige), a senior retainer of the Ryūzōji clan, carried out a night raid and killed Ōtomo Chikasada, the commander of the siege. Although it was a localized victory, it set the Ryūzōji clan on the path to dominance over Hizen and marked a turning point in the Sengoku history of Kyushu.
1570–1574 CE (Genki 1 – Tenshō 2)
An armed uprising by Ikko sect (Jodo Shinshu) followers that erupted in Nagashima, Ise Province (present-day Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture) from Genki 1 (1570) through Tensho 2 (1574). Oda Nobunaga launched three campaigns against Nagashima, finally suppressing it in the Third Campaign (1574). However, the mass massacre of surrendered followers that occurred during this final campaign became an iconic example of Nobunaga's ruthless warfare that was passed down to posterity.
1570–1580 (Genki 1 – Tenshō 8)
From 1570 to 1580, the Ishiyama Hongan-ji — the headquarters of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism on the site of present-day Osaka Castle — resisted Oda Nobunaga's forces for nearly a decade. The fortress-temple's armed adherents (ikki) held out against repeated assaults and naval blockades until an imperial-mediated truce ended the conflict. The longest siege of the Sengoku period.
May 13, 1573 (Genki 4, 4th month, 12th day)
In 1573, Takeda Shingen, the daimyo of Kai who was advancing toward Kyoto in the Saikō Campaign after crushing Tokugawa Ieyasu at Mikatagahara, fell fatally ill during the siege of Noda Castle and died at Komaba in Shinano Province at age 53 while retreating to Kai. His death collapsed the anti-Oda coalition and set the stage for the Takeda clan's later defeat at Nagashino and eventual destruction.
Genki 4 (Tenshō 1), 1573, 7th month 18th day (old calendar)
The 1573 clash in which Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki raised troops again against Oda Nobunaga at Makishima Castle in Uji, Yamashiro, surrendered after the attack of the 18th day of the 7th month, and was expelled from Kyoto. This article follows the dates through the breakdown of the relationship between Nobunaga and Yoshiaki five years after the march on Kyoto, and explains why the Muromachi shogunate is regarded as having effectively ended.
1st–2nd month, Genki 4 (1573)
From the 1st to the 2nd month of Genki 4 (1573), Takeda Shingen besieged and conquered Noda Castle (present-day Shinshiro City, Aichi Prefecture), a branch fortress of Tokugawa Ieyasu. After his decisive victory over Ieyasu at the Battle of Mikatagahara, Shingen reduced Noda Castle, but it is reported that during the siege he was struck by gunfire, or alternatively that his illness worsened shortly after the castle fell. He subsequently died on his way back to Kai Province. The Battle of Noda Castle represented the final phase of Shingen's western campaign and is recorded in history as his last battle.
June 14, 1572 (Genki 3, 5th month, 4th day)
In the third year of Genki (1572), in Hyūga Province (present-day Miyazaki Prefecture), the Shimazu army under Shimazu Yoshihiro defeated the Itō army under Itō Yoshisuke through brilliant stratagem. With a small force, Shimazu Yoshihiro employed the tsurino-buse tactic to annihilate an Itō army more than three times their size, achieving a decisive victory in the struggle for hegemony between Satsuma and Hyūga. Through this battle, Yoshihiro's martial fame spread widely, and the Itō clan began to decline. Called the 'Okehazama of Kyushu,' this is the most important battle in the military history of Satsuma, Ōsumi, and Hyūga.
January 25, 1573 (Genki 3/12/22)
In the 12th month of Genki 3 (1572), the Takeda army led by Takeda Shingen decisively defeated the Tokugawa Ieyasu army at Mikatagahara in Tōtōmi Province. It was Shingen's final campaign of his lifetime and the battle in which Ieyasu suffered his greatest defeat. Ieyasu's humiliation, exemplified by the Shikami-zō, and Shingen's strategic genius have been passed down through the ages.
1572–1575 (Genki 3 – Tenshō 3)
From Genki 3 (1572) to Tenshō 3 (1575), the Takeda and Oda clans contested control of Iwamura Castle in Mino Province. Female castle lord Lady Otsuya sought to protect the castle through marriage to Takeda strategist Akiyama Torashige, but after the Battle of Nagashino, Oda forces retook the castle, and both Torashige and Otsuya were executed.