The took place in June 1560. In this battle,
Oda Nobunaga was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo with land holdings in Owari province. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering a third of Japanese daimyo before his death in 1582...
defeated
Imagawa Yoshimotowas one of the leading daimyo in early Sengoku period Japan. Based in Suruga Province, he was one of the three daimyo that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He was one of the dominant daimyo in Japan for a time, until his death in 1560....
and established himself as one of the front-running warlords in the
Sengoku periodThe was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict in Japan that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century....
.
In May or June 1560, Imagawa Yoshimoto, with an army of perhaps 35,000 men, set forth on a march to Kyoto. Entering the Oda territories in
Owari Provincewas an old province of Japan that is now the western half of present day Aichi Prefecture, including much of modern Nagoya. Its abbreviation is Bishū ....
, he first took the border fortresses of Washizu and
MaruneThe was a battle during the Sengoku period of Japan.Marune was a frontier fortress in the possession of Oda Nobunaga. Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was at the time a forced retainer of the Imagawa, captured the fortress as part of the Imagawa advance that led to the fateful Battle of Okehazama in 1560...
before setting up camp in a wooded gorge known as Dengaku-hazama.
The took place in June 1560. In this battle,
Oda Nobunaga was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo with land holdings in Owari province. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering a third of Japanese daimyo before his death in 1582...
defeated
Imagawa Yoshimotowas one of the leading daimyo in early Sengoku period Japan. Based in Suruga Province, he was one of the three daimyo that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He was one of the dominant daimyo in Japan for a time, until his death in 1560....
and established himself as one of the front-running warlords in the
Sengoku periodThe was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict in Japan that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century....
.
Background
In May or June 1560, Imagawa Yoshimoto, with an army of perhaps 35,000 men, set forth on a march to Kyoto. Entering the Oda territories in
Owari Provincewas an old province of Japan that is now the western half of present day Aichi Prefecture, including much of modern Nagoya. Its abbreviation is Bishū ....
, he first took the border fortresses of Washizu and
MaruneThe was a battle during the Sengoku period of Japan.Marune was a frontier fortress in the possession of Oda Nobunaga. Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was at the time a forced retainer of the Imagawa, captured the fortress as part of the Imagawa advance that led to the fateful Battle of Okehazama in 1560...
before setting up camp in a wooded gorge known as Dengaku-hazama. This was all reported to
Oda Nobunaga was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo with land holdings in Owari province. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering a third of Japanese daimyo before his death in 1582...
by his scouts and, in response, Nobunaga then led his own forces into position at a temple called Zenshō-ji, a short distance away, on the other side of the
TōkaidōThe ' was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name....
.
Had Nobunaga decided on a frontal assault, the battle would have been deceptively easy to predict; his army was outnumbered ten to one by the Imagawa forces. A frontal assault would be suicidal and an attempt to hold out at Zenshō-ji would only last a few days. Because of the odds against their side, some of Nobunaga's advisers even suggested a surrender. Nobunaga, however, decided to launch a surprise attack on the Imagawa camp. When he made his decision, he gave this speech:
"Imagawa has 40,000 men marching toward this place? I don't believe that. He 'only' has 35,000 soldiers. Yes, that is still too many. So, Sado, you want me to surrender. What if we do surrender? Will you get content with losing your life that way?
Or what if we hold on like Katsuie wants me to? What if we stay here in this castle, lock it up, and wait until the Imagawas lose appetite and stop the siege and go home? We will be able to prolong our lives for 5 or 10 days, and what we cannot defend will still be undefendable.
We are at the bottom of the pit, you know. And our fate is interesting. Of course the misery is too great, too.
But this is how I see it: this is a chance in a lifetime. I can't afford to miss this.
Do you really want to spend your entire lives praying for longevity?
We were born in order to die!
Whoever is with me, come to the battlefield tomorrow morning. Whoever is not, just stay wherever you are and watch me win it!"
Battle
Nobunaga left a small force at the temple with a large number of
banners', literally meaning 'banner', had a more specific meaning on the battlefields of feudal Japan. It referred to a particular type of banner denoting units within an army; nobori became much more common in the Sengoku period, coming into use alongside the earlier hata-jirushi...
, to give the impression that this was the location of his main force. Meanwhile, Oda's main force (about 1,500 men) moved through the forest undetected to the rear of the Imagawa army.
The Imagawa samurai did not expect an attack, and that afternoon was very hot. The histories say that the Imagawa were celebrating their recent victories with song, dance, and
sakeSake or saké is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice.This beverage is called sake in English, but in Japanese, sake or o-sake refers to alcoholic drinks in general. The Japanese term for this specific beverage is Nihonshu , meaning "Japanese sake".Sake is also referred to in English as...
. An afternoon rainstorm further aided Oda's soldiers who arrived at the Imagawa camp just as the rains came down (this was the afternoon of 12 June).
When the storm passed, Nobunaga's men poured into the camp from the north, and the Imagawa warriors lost all discipline and fled from the attackers. This left their commander's tent undefended, and the Oda warriors closed in rapidly. Imagawa Yoshimoto, unaware of what had transpired, heard the noise and emerged from his tent shouting at his men to quit their drunken revelry and return to their posts. By the time he realized, moments later, that the samurai before him were not his own, it was far too late. He deflected one samurai's spear thrust, but was beheaded by another.
Aftermath
With their leader dead, and all but two of the senior officers killed, the remaining Imagawa officers joined Oda's army. Soon the Imagawa faction was no more and Oda Nobunaga was famous as his victory was hailed by many in Japan as miraculous. The most important of the samurai lords who joined Oda after this battle was
Tokugawa Ieyasu
from
Mikawa Provinceis an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces....
. Tokugawa would remain a loyal ally of Oda from this time till Nobunaga's death.
List of notable samurai in the battle
Oda side
- Oda Nobunaga
was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo with land holdings in Owari province. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering a third of Japanese daimyo before his death in 1582...
- Shibata Katsuie
or was a Japanese military commander during the Sengoku Period who served Oda Nobunaga.-Biography:Katsuie was born in the Shibata family, a cadet branch of the Shiba clan...
- Hattori Kazutada
was a samurai during the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods in Japan. He was also known as Hattori Koheita and Hattori Unemenokami ....
- Mōri Yoshikatsu
was a vassal under Oda Nobunaga during Japan's Sengoku period. He was also known as Mōri Shinsuke and Mōri Shinsaemon ....
- Kinoshita Tokichiro
was a daimyo in the Sengoku period who unified Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle. He is noted for a number of cultural legacies, including the...
- Maeda Toshiie
was one of the leading generals of Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century extending to the Azuchi-Momoyama period. His father was Maeda Toshimasa. He was the fourth of seven brothers. His childhood name was "Inuchiyo" . His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as...
Imagawa side
- Imagawa Yoshimoto
was one of the leading daimyo in early Sengoku period Japan. Based in Suruga Province, he was one of the three daimyo that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He was one of the dominant daimyo in Japan for a time, until his death in 1560....
- Asahina Yasutomo
Yasutomo was an officer under the Imagawa clan. After the Imagawa was greatly defeated at the Battle of Okehazama, he was one of very few retainers who still stood strong with the Imagawa. When his new lord, Imagawa Ujizane, the son of Imagawa Yoshimoto, was about to lose his castle to the Takeda,...
- Motonobu Okabe
- Matsudaira Motoyasu
- Ii Naomori
Ii Naomori a retainer of the Japanese clan of Imagawa in the Sengoku period of the 16th century. Following the Battle of Okehazama during the year of 1560, Naomori ended up being killed in battle when trying to protect his lord, Imagawa Yoshimoto following the rain mist strategy attack led by Oda...
- Honda Tadakatsu
' , also called Honda Heihachirō , was a Japanese general of the late Sengoku through early Edo period, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu.- Biography :...
- Hattori Hanzo
, also known as , the son of Hattori Yasunaga, was a famous samurai of the Sengoku era.Hanzō was born a vassal of the Matsudaira clan, and served Tokugawa Ieyasu; he would later earn the nickname because of the fearless tactics he displayed in his operations...