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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
296 events
July 17, 1589 (Tenshō 17, 6th month, 5th day)
In the 6th month of Tenshō 17 (1589), Date Masamune defeated the Ashina clan of Aizu at Suriagehara (present-day Inawashiro Town, Yama District, Fukushima Prefecture), destroying the Ashina house. The victory gave Masamune control of Aizu and established his hegemony over southern Ōshū. The battle marked the practical end of the Sengoku period in the Tōhoku region.
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August 29, 1588 (8th day, 7th month, Tenshō 16)
The purpose of the Katanagari (Sword Hunt) Edict was to confiscate weapons from farmers and temples to prevent uprisings, and to institutionally establish heinō bunri (separation of warriors and farmers), that is, the status distinction between warriors and farmers. Issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 7th month of Tenshō 16 (1588), it was the greatest social transformation in the history of Japanese swords. It was carried out under the pretext that the collected swords would be turned into nails and kasugai (clamps) for the Great Buddha of Hōkōji, and it became the foundation of early modern status-based society.
Seventh month (14th–27th), Tenshō 14 (1586)
In the 7th month of Tenshō 14 (1586), the Shimazu army, said to number anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 and on the verge of completing its conquest of Kyushu, laid siege to Iwaya Castle in Chikuzen Province, which was held by Takahashi Jōun on the Ōtomo side. Jōun rejected the demand to surrender and fought with only 763 castle troops. After a desperate struggle lasting half a month, all of them died in a gyokusai, a fight to the death, on the 27th day of the 7th month of Tenshō 14 (1586). This fierce resistance wore down the Shimazu army and bought time until the arrival of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Kyushu campaign army, and as a result it blocked the Shimazu unification of Kyushu.
Tenshō 14–15, 3rd–6th month (1586–1587)
From Tenshō 14 (1586) to 15 (1587), Toyotomi Hideyoshi conducted a massive military campaign to pacify the whole of Kyushu. Shimazu Yoshihisa shaved his head and surrendered, and Hideyoshi redistributed the region's fiefs among his vassals, marking the penultimate stage of his unification of Japan, with only the Kantō and Ōshū regions left to subdue.
Intercalary 8th month, Tenshō 13 (1585) and 9th month, Keichō 5 (1600)
Fought twice, in Tenshō 13 (1585) and Keichō 5 (1600), the Battles of Ueda saw Sanada Masayuki repulse a large Tokugawa army at Ueda Castle with a small force (in the second battle, together with his second son, Yukimura). A masterpiece of defensive warfare in which the resourcefulness of Sanada Masayuki, known as a clever tactician, shone.
29th day of the 11th month, Tenshō 13 (January 18, 1586)
The Tenshō earthquake, which struck on the 29th day of the 11th month of Tenshō 13 (January 18, 1586), was a huge earthquake with an estimated magnitude of around 7.8 to 8.2, causing severe damage across a wide area from Hokuriku through Tōkai to Kinki. Kaerikumo Castle in Hida was buried by a landslide, and Kifune Castle in Etchū and Nagahama Castle and others in Ōmi also collapsed, causing many deaths. Occurring in the period just before Toyotomi Hideyoshi's unification of the realm, this earthquake also deeply affected the fate of famous castles and warriors.
January 6, 1586 (Tenshō 13/11/17)
In the 11th month of Tenshō 13 (January 1586), Date Masamune, the great daimyo of Ōshū, clashed with the allied forces of Satake, Ashina, Nikaidō, and Shirakawa at Hitotorihashi in Mutsu Province (present-day Motomiya City, Fukushima Prefecture). Surrounded by enemies vastly outnumbering him, the 18-year-old Masamune fought fiercely and narrowly escaped destruction. This battle became a major turning point in Northeastern Sengoku history.
11th day of the 7th month, Tenshō 13 (1585)
On the 11th day of the 7th month of Tenshō 13 (1585), Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the first person from the warrior class to be appointed Kanpaku (Imperial Regent). After the subjugation of Kyushu in Tenshō 15 (1587), and the Odawara campaign and Ōshū Shioki in Tenshō 18, he completed the unification of the realm. By the Sword Hunt Edict of Tenshō 16 (1588), he banned peasants from possessing weapons and pushed forward the separation of warriors and farmers.
6th–7th month, Tenshō 13 (1585)
In the 6th month of Tenshō 13 (1585), Hashiba Hideyoshi dispatched approximately 100,000 troops to Shikoku, compelling Chosokabe Motochika—who had unified Shikoku—to surrender. Motochika retained only Tosa Province, and Hideyoshi's campaign for nationwide unification advanced significantly. The Shikoku Campaign was one of the crowning achievements of Hideyoshi's pacification of the western provinces, occurring immediately after the Kishu Campaign.
Third–fourth month, Tenshō 13 (1585)
In Tenshō 13 (1585), during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's subjugation of Kii Province, Hideyoshi's army subjected Ōta Castle—the last stronghold of the Saika and Negoro leagues—to a flooding siege. Unable to storm the fortress, Hideyoshi built an embankment some 7 km long in only a few days to submerge it, and after about a month forced its surrender in exchange for the seppuku of ringleader Ōta Sakon and 52 others. It is counted, with Bitchū-Takamatsu and Oshi, among Japan's "three great flooding sieges."
May 4, 1584 (Tenshō 12/3/24)
In the 3rd month of Tenshō 12 (1584), Ryūzōji Takanobu — the 'Bear of Hizen' who dominated northern Kyushu — marched against the Shimazu-Arima coalition at Okitanawate in Hizen Province. Shimazu Iehisa's brilliant tactical trap ended Ryūzōji supremacy and reshaped the balance of power across Kyushu.
Ninth month (9th–11th), Tenshō 12 (October 12–14, 1584)
In the 9th month of Tenshō 12 (1584), Sassa Narimasa of Etchū, who had raised the banner of revolt against the Hashiba side in response to the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, surrounded Suemori Castle, a key stronghold in Noto Province, with a force of 15,000 men. While the castellan Okumura Nagatomi and his 300 soldiers held out to the brink of the castle's fall, Maeda Toshiie, upon receiving word, rushed to the scene through the night with 2,500 troops, struck the rear of Sassa's army, and drove it off. The battle is known as the one that decided the fate of the Maeda family.
3rd–11th months of Tenshō 12 (1584)
In 1584, Toyotomi Hideyoshi clashed with the combined forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobukatsu in a campaign spanning several months. Though Ieyasu won the tactical engagement at Nagakute — killing senior Toyotomi commanders — the strategic stalemate ultimately resolved through diplomacy, with Hideyoshi emerging politically dominant.
June 11, 1583 (Tenshō 11/4/21)
In the 4th month of Tenshō 11 (1583), a contest for supremacy between Hashiba Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie unfolded around Shizugatake in Ōmi Province (present-day Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture). It was a power struggle among warlords over the "successor to the Oda house" after the Honnōji Incident, and it is known for the exploits of seven fierce warriors called the "Seven Spears of Shizugatake."
The 27th day of the 6th month of Tenshō 10 (July 16, 1582)
In 1582, after Oda Nobunaga and his son Nobutada died in the Honnō-ji Incident, senior Oda retainers met at Kiyosu Castle in Owari to decide the clan's successor and divide its territories. Led by Hashiba Hideyoshi, the conference settled on Nobunaga's infant grandson Sanbōshi as heir, and the resulting rift with Shibata Katsuie led to the following year's Battle of Shizugatake.
July 2, 1582 (13th day, 6th month, Tenshō 10)
The culmination of the Chūgoku Ōgaeshi, which took place on the 13th day of the 6th month of Tenshō 10 (1582), just 11 days after the Honnō-ji Incident. Hashiba Hideyoshi defeated Akechi Mitsuhide at Yamazaki on the border of Settsu and Yamashiro provinces (present-day Ōyamazaki Town, Kyoto Prefecture, to Shimamoto Town, Osaka Prefecture), and gained control of the realm after Nobunaga's death. The battle gave rise to the phrase “Mount Tennō” (Tennōzan), meaning the decisive point between victory and defeat, from the tradition of the struggle over Mount Tennō.
6th–10th months of Tenshō 10 (1582)
Following Oda Nobunaga's death at Honnō-ji on the 2nd day of the 6th month, Tenshō 10 (1582), three powers — Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hōjō Ujimasa, and Uesugi Kagekatsu — scrambled to seize the suddenly vacant former Takeda domains of Kai, Shinano, and Kōzuke. The conflict is named for the cyclical year designation Jingo (壬午). Ieyasu ultimately secured Kai and Shinano, transforming from a regional lord into a major power — a crucial step toward his eventual dominance.
May – June 23, 1582 (Tenshō 10/4 – 10/6/4)
From the 4th to the 6th month of Tenshō 10 (1582), at Takamatsu Castle in Bitchū Province (present-day Takamatsu, Kita Ward, Okayama City), Hashiba Hideyoshi carried out a water siege against the castle, where Shimizu Muneharu was holding out. Hideyoshi dammed the Ashimori River and submerged Takamatsu Castle, and this "water siege" is counted as one of the three great water sieges of Japan. It was a historic battle that prompted Hideyoshi, on receiving word of the Honnō-ji Incident, to turn back toward Kyoto in the Chūgoku Ōgaeshi.
March 25, 1582 (Tenshō 10, 3rd month, 2nd day)
In the 3rd month of Tenshō 10 (1582), during Oda Nobunaga's Kōshū Campaign, a massive army led by Oda Nobutada besieged Takato Castle in Shinano Province. Castle lord Nishina Morinobu resisted with fewer than 3,000 troops but was defeated in a single day and took his own life. The battle is remembered as the decisive final struggle that sealed the fate of the Takeda clan.
April 3, 1582 (Tenshō 10, 3rd month, 11th day)
In the 3rd month of Tenshō 10 (1582), Takeda Katsuyori was cornered at Tenmokuzan in Kai Province by the combined forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, and committed ritual suicide with his wife and remaining retainers. This final stand marked the extinction of the Takeda clan, once celebrated as the Sengoku era's most feared military power.
8th month of Tenshō 10 (1582)
In the 8th month of Tenshō 10 (1582), Chosokabe Motochika crushed the Miyoshi-Sogo coalition at the Nakatomigawa River in Awa Province. Seizing the chaos that erupted after the Honnoji Incident, Motochika's resolve and the lightning campaign mounted by elite 'ichiryo gusoku' troops became the decisive move in Shikoku's unification.
6th day of the 6th month, Tenshō 10 (1582) — departure from Takamatsu; arrival at Yamazaki around the 13th day
In 1582, after word of the Honnō-ji Incident, Hashiba Hideyoshi lifted the siege of Bitchū Takamatsu Castle and marched back toward Kyoto, reaching the field of Yamazaki in about ten days. It is discussed in terms of speed of movement, the control and transmission of information, logistics, and coordination with his brother Hidenaga.
Sixth month (16th–19th), Tenshō 10 (July 5–8, 1582)
In the sixth month of Tenshō 10 (1582), immediately after Oda Nobunaga was killed at Honnō-ji, Takigawa Kazumasu—the Oda retainer governing Kōzuke—clashed with the Hōjō forces led by Hōjō Ujinao at the Kanna River on the Musashi–Kōzuke border. Regarded as the largest field battle in the Kantō during the Sengoku period, Kazumasu's roughly 18,000 men were routed by the Hōjō's roughly 56,000, and he fled all the way back to his home at Nagashima in Ise.
6th month, Tenshō 10 (1582)
In the 6th month of 1582, immediately after the Honnōji Incident, Tokugawa Ieyasu made a desperate escape from Sakai to Okazaki Castle in Mikawa via Iga and Kōka, guarded by Hattori Hanzō. This perilous journey became a founding legend of the Tokugawa house and a decisive step toward Ieyasu's eventual unification of Japan.