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Batailles, incidents et événements historiques liés aux sabres japonais
138 événements
August 1532 CE (Tenbun 1)
In August of Tenbun 1 (1532), the allied forces of Hosokawa Harumoto, Rokkaku Sadayori, and the Hokke Ikki (Lotus Sutra league) burned and destroyed Yamashina Hongan-ji, the headquarters of the Ikko Ikki, in a decisive engagement of the Eishoku-Tenbun Disturbance (1531–1535). This event paved the way for the Hongan-ji's relocation to Osaka and the subsequent Ishiyama Conflict.
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Autumn, Tenbun 9 (1540)
In autumn 1540, at Kōriyama Castle in Aki Province (present-day Akitakata City, Hiroshima Prefecture), Mōri Motonari repulsed a massive invasion by Amako Haruhisa of Izumi Province. Vastly outnumbered, Mōri's defense and counterattacks forced the Amako withdrawal, marking the turning point in Mōri's rise to dominate the Chūgoku region.
October 23, 1538 (Tenbun 7, 10th month, 7th day)
A 1538 battle at Kōnodai in Shimōsa Province between the allied forces of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, head of the Koyumi Kubō, and Satomi Yoshitaka against Hōjō Ujitsuna and his son Ujiyasu of the Later Hōjō. Yoshiaki's death in battle ended the Koyumi Kubō line and opened the way for Hōjō expansion into Shimōsa.
July 1536 (Tenbun 5)
In July 1536, warrior-monks of Enryaku-ji on Mt. Hiei, backed by Rokkaku Sadayori's forces, burned all twenty-one Hokke (Nichiren) temple compounds in Kyoto. The resulting destruction surpassed even the Ōnin War, and the Hokke faithful were expelled from the capital for six years — a vivid example of the interplay between religion, armed force, and daimyo power in the Sengoku age.
March 19, 1548 (Tenbun 17)
On March 19, 1548 (Tenbun 17), the forces of Oda Nobuhide of Owari clashed with the allied Imagawa–Matsudaira army—commanded by the Imagawa strategist-monk Taigen Sessai—at Azukizaka in Mikawa Province (present-day Okayama-chō, Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture). The battle arose from the contest between the Oda and Imagawa clans for control of Mikawa Province, centered on guardianship of the young Matsudaira Hirotada, lord of Okazaki Castle. The Imagawa victory secured their dominance over Mikawa and set the stage for the young Tokugawa Ieyasu's years as an Imagawa hostage.
February, Tenbun 17 (1548)
In February 1548, Takeda Shingen suffered one of his most severe defeats at the hands of Murakami Yoshikiyo at Udahara in Shinano Province. Shingen was wounded in the right thigh by an arrow and forced to withdraw, while two of his most trusted generals—Itagaki Nobukata and Amari Torayasu—were killed in the battle.
May 19, 1546 (20th day, 4th month, Tenbun 15)
In 1546, Hōjō Ujiyasu launched a daring night assault with only 8,000 men against an 80,000-strong besieging coalition — the greatest surprise battle in the Kantō region. Crushing the combined forces of Uesugi Tomosada and Ashikaga Haruuji, Ujiyasu established Hōjō supremacy over the Kantō plain and cemented his reputation as one of the era's greatest commanders.
June 1542 (Tenbun 11) – September 1548 (Tenbun 17)
From 1542 to 1548, Date clan head Date Tanemune and his son and heir Harumune clashed over succession and foreign alliance policy, escalating into a six-year war that split the daimyo of the Ōu region into two camps. Mediation by shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru brought peace; Harumune relocated the clan's base to Yonezawa Castle and reorganized its rule, laying the groundwork for Date Masamune's later unification of Ōshū.
February 19, 1837 (Tenpō 8)
On February 19, 1837 (Tenpō 8), Ōshio Heihachirō, a former aide of the Osaka East Magistrate's office, led an uprising in Osaka under the banner of saving the people. As the largest city revolt of the Edo period, it profoundly influenced the late-shogunate loyalists.
August 20, 1864 (19th day, 7th month, Genji 1)
In July 1864, Chōshū domain warriors stormed the Hamaguri-gomon Gate of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, triggering the Kinmon Incident. The resulting fires destroyed much of Kyoto (the 'Dondonyake'), Chōshū was branded an imperial enemy, and the Shinsengumi participated in the suppression. This violent collision of political factions marked the definitive militarization of Bakumatsu politics.
March 22, 1185 (19th day, 2nd month, Genryaku 2)
In February 1185, Minamoto no Yoshitsune launched a surprise attack on the Taira stronghold at Yashima in Shikoku during a raging storm. The battle produced some of the Genpei War's most celebrated episodes: Nasu no Yoichi's arrow shot at the fan, Taira no Tomomori's desperate defense, and the seafront combat that prefigured the final destruction at Dan-no-ura.
8th month, Genkō 1 (August 1331) — 5th month, Genkō 3 (May 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 3–16, 1333 (8th–22nd day, 5th month, Genkō 3)
In May 1333, Nitta Yoshisada rose in revolt at Emperor Go-Daigo's command and stormed the Kamakura Shogunate's seat of power. The legendary parting of the tidal flats at Inamuragasaki and the mass suicide of the Hōjō clan at Tōshōji temple — the fall of Kamakura ended 140 years of warrior government and opened the brief era of imperial restoration.
May 7, 1333 (Genkō 3)
On May 7, 1333 (Genhō 3), 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 May 22 of the same year. 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 daitachi of the Northern and Southern Courts era.
2nd–5th month, 1333 CE (Genkō 3)
In 1333 (Genkyō 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.
June 28, Genki 1 (July 30, 1570)
In June 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 Anekawa 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.
April, Genki 1 (1570)
In April 1570, Oda Nobunaga invaded Echizen Province to attack Asakura Yoshikage. When his ally Azai Nagamasa unexpectedly betrayed him, cutting off his retreat, Nobunaga executed a desperate fighting withdrawal — the famous 'Kanegasaki Withdrawal'. Kinoshita Hideyoshi commanded the rear guard that held off the pursuing Asakura-Azai forces long enough for Nobunaga to reach safety.
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 4, Genki 3 (June 5, 1572 CE)
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 Shimazu clan control of Hyūga was firmly established. Called 'Hyūga's Okehazama,' this is the most important battle in the military history of Satsuma, Ōsumi, and Hyūga.
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.
September 12, Genki 2 (October 1571)
In September 1571, Oda Nobunaga burned Enryakuji temple complex on Mount Hiei, killing its monks and lay inhabitants and destroying over a thousand years of religious buildings. The action — unprecedented in its totality — was simultaneously a military operation against a long-standing political enemy and a declaration that religious institutions were not exempt from worldly authority. It permanently changed the relationship between Buddhist power and secular governance in Japan.
January 15, 1455 – 1482 CE
The Kyōtoku War (1454–1482) was a 28-year conflict in the Kantō region triggered when Ashikaga Shigeuji, the fifth Kamakura kubō, killed Kantō Kanrei Uesugi Noritada. The resulting war between the Furukawa kubō and the Uesugi/shogunate forces ushered in the Sengoku period in eastern Japan and profoundly disrupted the sword-making traditions of the Kantō region.
August 663 CE (2nd year of Emperor Tenji)
In 663, Wa (proto-Japan) suffered a devastating defeat against the Tang–Silla alliance in Korea while supporting the Baekje restoration movement. The largest overseas expedition in Wa history ended in failure, marking a historical turning point where Japan abandoned continental ambitions and pivoted to domestic state-building. The fall of Baekje—Japan primary conduit for continental technology—and the shock of defeat became a catalyst for Japan to independently absorb and develop Tang iron and sword-making techniques, profoundly influencing the later emergence of the tachi sword form.