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Batailles, incidents et événements historiques liés aux sabres japonais
242 événements
1028–1031 (Chōgen 1–4)
From 1028 to 1031 (Chōgen 1–4), Taira no Tadatsune, a powerful figure in the three Bōsō provinces (Kazusa, Shimōsa, and Awa), rose up against provincial governor rule. The first court commander, Taira no Naokata, failed to suppress him over three years; when Minamoto no Yorinobu, governor of Kai, took command, Tadatsune surrendered without a fight. The rebellion's resolution became the starting point for Kawachi Genji expansion into eastern Japan and the rise of the warrior class.
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1350–1352 (Kannō 1–2)
From Kan'nō 1 to 3 (1350–1352), an internal conflict within the Muromachi shogunate between Ashikaga Takauji and his younger brother Ashikaga Tadayoshi. Takauji's administrator Kō no Moronao clashed fiercely with Tadayoshi, but after Moronao's execution, Takauji and Tadayoshi reconciled; however, Tadayoshi was subsequently poisoned, ending the conflict. The greatest internal strife of the shogunate, further complicating the tumult of the Northern and Southern Courts.
527–528 (Keitai 21–22)
In 527–528 (Keitai 21–22), Tsukushi no Kimi Iwai, a powerful chieftain who independently controlled northern Kyushu, allied with Silla to block a Yamato court expedition bound for the Korean peninsula. After fierce fighting with a court army led by Mononobe no Arakahi, the uprising was crushed—one of the largest regional rebellions recorded in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki.
July 10, 645 CE (Kōgyoku 4)
In the 6th month of 645, Prince Naka no Ōe and Nakatomi no Kamatari assassinated Soga no Iruka within the court. One of the earliest documented political assassinations using ancient Japanese straight swords, it is a pivotal event in the history of the sword's origins.
November 9, 1180 (20th day, 10th month, Jishō 4)
In the 10th month of Jishō 4 (1180), at the Fuji River in Suruga Province, the eastern warrior coalition under Minamoto no Yoritomo routed the pursuing Taira force led by Taira no Koremori. The Taira army's legendary flight at the sound of startled waterbirds masked the real significance: the rapid consolidation of Kantō warriors behind Yoritomo, establishing the foundation of what would become the Kamakura shogunate.
August 23, 1180 (Jishō 4)
On August 23, 1180 (Jishō 4), Minamoto no Yoritomo, having just raised his banner in Izu, suffered a crushing defeat at Ishibashiyama in Sagami Province against the far larger Taira-aligned army of Ōba Kagechika. Yoritomo narrowly escaped with his life to Awa Province, rallied the warriors of the eastern provinces, and entered Kamakura that October. This defeat — said to be the only one of his career — proved the turning point toward the founding of the Kamakura shogunate.
c. 1180–1192 CE (Jishō 4 – Kenkyū 3)
From the Jisho-Juyei Rebellion (1180–1185) through the Bunji and Kenkyū eras (1185–1199), the imperial insei rule centered on the aristocratic court collapsed, and the samurai regime under Minamoto Yoritomo as shogun (the Kamakura Shogunate) fundamentally transformed Japan's system of rule. This was the historical transition period in which the Japanese sword became institutionalized as the symbol of the warrior's soul, authority, and official rank.
c. Eiroku period (1558–1570)
During the Eiroku period (1558–1570), Kamiizumi Ise-no-Kami Nobutsuna (born c. 1508) created Shinkage-ryū by developing and transforming the older Kage-ryū. He invented the fukuro shinai (a split-bamboo practice weapon wrapped in a leather sleeve), revolutionizing sword training, and systematized the philosophy of the "living sword" (katsujinken)—subduing rather than killing. In 1564 he performed before Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, and later transmitted the innermost teachings to Yagyū Munetoshi (Sekishūsai), who became the founder of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū.
19th day, 5th month, Eiroku 8 (June 17, 1565)
The Eiroku Incident (May 19, Eiroku 8, corresponding to 1565) was an attack on the residence of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru by the forces of the Miyoshi Sanningumi and Matsunaga Kutsū, resulting in Yoshiteru's death. Yoshiteru is said to have planted multiple celebrated blades into the floor, and as each blade became slippery with blood, he continuously switched to the next sword while fighting to the very end. Known as the most dramatic death intertwined with swords in Japanese history, this event symbolizes the life of Yoshiteru, acclaimed as the "Swordmaster Shogun."
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.
3rd day of the 1st month, Eiroku 7 (January 1564)
On the 3rd of January, Eiroku 7 (1564), the Later Hōjō forces led by Hōjō Ujiyasu and his son Ujimasa routed the army of Satomi Yoshihiro at Kokufu-dai (present-day Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture) in Shimofusa Province. This battle halted the Satomi's invasion of Kazusa and firmly established Later Hōjō dominion over the Kantō region, marking a critical turning point in Sengoku-period history of eastern Japan.
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.
1st–5th months, Eiroku 12 (February–June 1569)
From January to May in the 12th year of Eiroku (1569), Tokugawa Ieyasu besieged Kakegawa Castle in Tōtōmi Province, where Imagawa Ujisato was garrisoned. Having lost his father Yoshimoto in the Battle of Okehazama (1560), Ujisato held Kakegawa Castle, his last stronghold, as the Imagawa domain collapsed under Takeda Shingen's invasion (1568). Ultimately, Ujisato surrendered and opened the castle, and the illustrious Imagawa clan lost its standing as a warring state daimyo. The fate of Ujisato, known for preferring poetry and kemari to warfare, reflects the cruel reality of sword culture in the aristocratic struggle for supremacy.
October, Eiroku 12 (1569)
In October 1569, as Takeda Shingen's forces withdrew from their raid on Odawara Castle, Hojo troops pursued them through the mountains of Sagami Province. At Mimasetoge Pass (present-day Aiko District, Kanagawa Prefecture), the Takeda rear-guard turned and shattered the pursuing Hojo forces, with the red-armored cavalry of Yamaga Masaage playing a celebrated role.
September 12, 1568 (Eiroku 11)
In September 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.
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.
1506-1521
During the Eisho era (1506-1521), a large-scale upheaval centered on Kanto, Echigo, and the Hokuriku region stemmed from the rebellion of Nagao Kagetoki of Echigo. The conflict between the Koga kubo and the Kanto kanrei of the Uesugi clan deepened, and Nagao Kagetoki of Echigo eventually intervened, leading to complex power struggles. Uesugi Akisada died in the Battle of Nagamori, and the authority of the Kanto kanrei steadily weakened. Eventually the Hōjō clan seized the opportunity to advance into Kanto, opening the path to becoming a sengoku daimyo. This affair symbolizes 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."
1083–1087 (Eiho 3 – Kanji 1)
From 1083 to 1087, a struggle for dominance in the northeast erupted in Mutsu and Dewa provinces. Minamoto Yoshiie intervened in the internal strife of the Kiyohara clan and established supremacy by capturing Kanazawa Stockade. As one of the two great wars of the northeast alongside the Earlier Nine Years' War, it established the martial authority of the Minamoto and created the 'tradition of Oshu warfare.'
1438–1439 (Eikyō 10–11)
From Eikyo 10–11 (1438–1439), Ashikaga Yoshinori, 6th shogun of the Muromachi bakufu, waged a campaign to subjugate Ashikaga Mochiunji, the Kamakura kubō. Yoshinori opposed Mochiunji's increasingly independent stance, while Kanto Kanrei Uesugi Norizane clashed with Mochiunji. Uesugi forces, backed by bakufu troops, achieved victory, and Mochiunji committed suicide, ending the independent Ashikaga regime in Kanto.
August 1428 – 1429 (Shōchō 1–2)
In August of Shōchō 1 (1428), a large-scale land uprising—the first of its kind in Japanese history—spread across Kyoto and the Kinai region, triggered by a bashaku (transport worker) uprising in Ōmi. Peasants and bashaku demanded tokusei (debt cancellation) and attacked pawnshops and sake merchants. The shogunate attempted to suppress the uprising through Akamatsu Mitsusuke, but in Nara, Kōfukuji Temple recognized tokusei. This was a landmark event marking the first emergence of organized collective armed action by the common people in history.
February 4, 1348 (Shōhei 3 / Jōwa 4, 1st month, 5th day)
A 1348 battle in Kawachi Province in which Kusunoki Masatsura and his brother Masatoki, leading Southern Court forces, were crushed by the Muromachi shogunate army under Kō no Moronao and Kō no Moroyasu. Masatsura died in the fighting, and the Southern Court soon lost its capital at Yoshino.
August 29, 1359 (Shōhei 14 / Enbun 4, 8th month, 6th day)
A 1359 battle at Ōbaru in Chikugo Province between the Southern Court army of Prince Kanenaga and Kikuchi Takemitsu and the Northern Court army of Shōni Yorihisa and his son Naosuke — the largest engagement of the Nanboku-chō era in Kyushu, often ranked among Japan's three greatest battles.
1955 – present
In Showa 30 (1955), the Japanese government established the system for Important Intangible Cultural Property Holders, commonly known as "Living National Treasures." Japanese sword forging technique was designated as a target category from the outset, with Takahashi Sadatsugu (1955) and Miyairi Akihira (designated 1963) selected as the first recipients. This system represented the state's highest recognition of Japanese sword smith technology, which had been formally designated as "Cultural Property" following the post-war crisis of GHQ confiscation. Subsequently, successive Living National Treasures—including Amata Akitsugu, Sumitani Masamine, and Miyairi Norihiro—carried forward the tradition and established the foundation of modern sword culture.