Siege of Osaka - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

against the Toyotomi clan

Toyotomi clan

Originating in Owari Province, the served as retainers to the Oda clan throughout 16th-century Japan's Sengoku period. -Unity and Conflict:The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan." Oda Nobunaga was another primary unifier and the...

, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (Winter Campaign and Summer Campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the shogunate's establishment. The end of the conflict is sometimes called the , because the era name

Japanese era name

The Japanese era calendar scheme is a common calendar scheme used in Japan, which identifies a year by the combination of the and the year number within the era...

was changed from Keichō

Keicho

was a after Bunroku and before Genna. This period spanned from October 1596 to July 1615. The reigning emperors were and .-Change of era:* 1596 : The era name was changed to Keichō to mark the passing of various natural disasters...

to Genna

Genna

was a coming after Keichō and before Kan'ei. This period spanned the years from July 1615 to February 1624. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:...

immediately following the siege.

Outset

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of 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...

died in 1598, Japan came to be governed by the Council of Five Elders

Council of Five Elders

The council of five elders, also known as the five Tairō , was formed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to rule Japan in the place of his son, Hideyori, until such time as he came of age. Hideyoshi chose his five most powerful daimyo: Ukita Hideie, Maeda Toshiie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, Mōri Terumoto, and the...

, among whom Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu

was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...

possessed the most authority. After defeating Ishida Mitsunari

Ishida Mitsunari

Ishida Mitsunari was a samurai who led the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi-Momoyama period of the 17th century. Also known by his court title, Jibunoshō...

in the battle of Sekigahara

Battle of Sekigahara

The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...

, Ieyasu essentially seized control of Japan for himself, and abolished the Council. In 1603, the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

was established, with its capital at Edo

Edo

, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

. Ieyasu sought to establish a powerful and stable regime under the rule of his own clan; only the Toyotomi, led by Hideyoshi's son Toyotomi Hideyori

Toyotomi Hideyori

was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga....

and based at Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, remained as an obstacle to that goal.

Winter Campaign

In 1614, the Toyotomi clan rebuilt Osaka Castle

Osaka Castle

is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan.Originally called Ozakajō, it is one of Japan's most famous castles, and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.-Description:...

. At the same time, the head of the clan sponsored the rebuilding of Hōkō-ji

Hoko-ji (Kyoto)

is a temple in Kyoto, Japan, dating from the 16th century. Toyotomi Hideyoshi determined that the capital city should have a Daibutsu temple to surpass that of Nara. He is reputed to have claimed at the outset that he would complete construction in half the time it took Emperor Shōmu to complete...

in Kyoto. These temple renovations included the casting a great bronze bell, with an inscription that read "May the state be peaceful and prosperous(国家安康,Kokkaankō), May Noble lord and Servants be rich and cheerful(君臣豊楽Gunshinhōraku).". The shogunate interpreted Kokkaankō(国家安康) as shattering Ieyasu's name(家康) to curse him, and also interpreted Gunshinhōraku(君臣豊楽) as "Toyotomi's force(豊臣) will rise again", which means treachery for shogunate. Therefore tensions began to grow between the Tokugawa and the Toyotomi clan. The tension was only increased when Toyotomi Hideyori began to gather a force of ronin

Ronin

A or rounin was a Bushi with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege....

and enemies of the shogunate in Osaka. By November of that year, Ieyasu, despite having passed the title of Shogun on to his son in 1605, nevertheless maintained significant influence, and decided not to let this force grow any larger, leading 164,000 men to Osaka (the count does not include the troops of Shimazu Tadatsune

Shimazu Tadatsune

was a tozama daimyo of Satsuma, the first to hold it as a formal fief under the Tokugawa shogunate, and the first Japanese to rule over the Ryūkyū Kingdom...

, an ally of the Toyotomi cause who nevertheless did not send troops to Osaka).
The siege was begun on November 19, when Ieyasu led three thousand men across the Kizu River, destroying the fort there. A week later, he attacked the village of Imafuku

Battle of Imafuku

The ' was fought in late November of 1614 between the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Toyotomi. This battle was one of the first of the series of battles fought near Osaka over the course of two years. The village of Imafuku stood on the northeast approach to Osaka, and so Tokugawa Ieyasu sent...

with 1,500 men, against a defending force of 600. With the aid of a squad wielding arquebus

Arquebus

The arquebus , or "hook tube", is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. The word was originally modeled on the German hakenbüchse; this produced haquebute...

es, the shogunal forces claimed another victory. Several more small forts and villages were attacked before the siege on Osaka Castle itself began on December 4.

The Sanada-maru was an earthwork barbican

Barbican

A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from...

defended by Sanada Yukimura

Sanada Yukimura

was a Japanese samurai, second son of the Sengoku period daimyo Sanada Masayuki . His proper name was Sanada Nobushige , named after Takeda Shingen's younger brother Takeda Nobushige, who was a brave and respected warrior. He and his father were known as being excellent military tacticians...

and 7,000 men, on behalf of the Toyotomi. The Shogun's armies were repeatedly repelled, and Sanada and his men launched a number of attacks against the siege lines, breaking through three times. Ieyasu then resorted to artillery (including 17 imported European cannons and 300 domestic wrought iron cannons) as well as men to dig under the walls. On January 22, the Winter Siege was ended, with Toyotomi Hideyori pledging to not rise in rebellion. The walls of the outer layer defenses were torn down, and the outer moat of Osaka castle was allowed to be filled in.

Summer Campaign

In April 1615, Ieyasu received word that Toyotomi Hideyori was gathering even more troops than in the previous November, and that he was trying to stop the filling of the moat. Toyotomi forces (often called the Western Army) began to attack contingents of the Shogun's forces (the Eastern Army) near Osaka. Commanded by Ban Danemon, they raided Wakayama Castle

Wakayama Castle

' in Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, sits at the mouth of the Kii River. Originally Ōta castle, home of the Saiga Ikki, it was captured by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1585, during the Siege of Negoroji; many monks from Negoroji sought refuge in Ōta, which was soon destroyed by flood...

, a coastal fortress belonging to Asano Nagaakira

Asano Nagaakira

was a Japanese samurai of the early Edo period who served as daimyō of the Wakayama domain, and was later transferred to the Hiroshima Domain.Born Asano Iwamatsu, he was the son of Asano Nagamasa, who was a senior retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1594, Nagaakira was made a retainer of Toyotomi...

, an ally of the Shogun, on April 29. Asano's men sallied forth from the castle, attacking the invaders, and driving them off. By early June, the Eastern army had arrived, before Hideyori managed to secure any land to use against them. At the battle of Dōmyōji

Battle of Domyoji

On June 3, 1615 the Eastern Army of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Osaka Army of Toyotomi Hideyori clashed in battle at Dōmyōji , Osaka. This battle was one of Japan's major historical battles between samurai forces...

, on June 2, 2,600 of his men encountered 23,000 of the Eastern Army. Hideyori's commander at the battle, Gotō Matabei, attempted to retreat into the fog, but the battle was lost and he was killed. After this, Tokugawa forces intercepted those of Toyotomi general Sanada Yukimura at Honta-Ryo. Sanada tried to force a battle with Date Masamune, but Date retainer Katakura Shigenaga

Katakura Shigenaga

was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. The son of Katakura Kagetsuna, Shigenaga was the 2nd man to bear the common name Kojūrō. His name was originally Shigetsuna; however, to avoid conflict with the 4th shogun Ietsuna's name, he changed it to Shigenaga...

retreated since his troops were exhausted; Sanada's forces followed suit.

The same night, Chōsokabe Morichika

Chosokabe Morichika

was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Once the ruler of Tosa Province, his fief was revoked by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara....

and Tōdō Takatora

Todo Takatora

was a Japanese daimyo of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through Edo period. He rose from relatively humble origins as an ashigaru to become a daimyo...

battled at Yao. Another battle took place at Wakae around the same time, between Kimura Shigenari

Kimura Shigenari

was a Japanese samurai of the early Edo period. A retainer of the Toyotomi clan, Shigenari fought at the Siege of Osaka and died in battle....

and Ii Naotaka

Ii Naotaka

was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period who served under the Tokugawa shogunate. He was the son of the famous Tokugawa general Ii Naomasa.Naotaka served in the Siege of Osaka in his brother Naokatsu's stead, where he would gain tremendous favor for his exploits at Tennoji. After the battle,...

. Chōsokabe's forces achieved victory, but Kimura Shigenari was deflected by the left wing of Ii Naotaka's army. The main Tokugawa forces moved to assist Todo Takatora after Shigenari's death, and Chōsokabe withdrew for the time being.
After another series of shogunate victories on the outskirts of Osaka

Osaka

, the Summer Campaign came to a head at the battle of Tennōji

Battle of Tennoji

The was fought in 1615 between the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the forces of Toyotomi Hideyori. Tokugawa was laying siege to Osaka, and Hideyori had planned a counterattack. Both sides were plagued by mistakes until Hideyori's side finally fell. He committed suicide. The Toyotomi army...

. Hideyori planned a hammer-and-anvil operation, in which 55,000 men would attack the center of the Eastern Army, while a second force, of 16,500 men, would flank them from the rear. Another contingent waited in reserve. Ieyasu's army was led by his son, the Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada

Tokugawa Hidetada

was the second shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.-Early life :...

, and numbered around 155,000. They moved in four parallel lines, prepared to make flanking maneuvers of their own. Mistakes on both sides nearly ruined the battle, as Hideyori's ronin split off from the main group, and Hidetada's reserve force moved up without orders from the main force. In the end, however, Hideyori's commander Sanada Yukimura was killed, destroying the morale of the Western Army. The smaller force led directly by Hideyori sallied forth from Osaka Castle too late, and was chased right back into the castle by the advancing enemies; there was no time to set up a proper defense of the castle, and it was soon ablaze and pummeled by artillery fire. Hideyori committed seppuku

Seppuku

is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...

, and the final major uprising against Tokugawa rule was put to an end, leaving the shogunate unchallenged for approximately 250 years.

History indicates that the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi

, also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age...

participated in the battle on the Toyotomi side. It is unknown how he fared but what is known is that Musashi was spared by Ieyasu for unknown reasons.

Aftermath

Hideyori's son Toyotomi Kunimatsu

Toyotomi Kunimatsu

a member of the Japanese clan of Toyotomi following the Edo period of the 17th century. Kunimatsu was famed for being the son of Toyotomi Hideyori . Following the year of 1615 during the Siege of Osaka, Hideyori ended up having his castle taken by that of Tokugawa Ieyasu, ending in his suicide...

(age 8) was captured by the shogunate and beheaded in Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

. According to legend, before his beheading, little Kunimatsu bravely blamed Ieyasu for his betrayal and brutality against Toyotomi clan. Naahime, daughter of Hideyori, was not sentenced to death. She later became a nun

Nun

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

at Kamakura

Kamakura, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...

's Tōkei-ji

Tokei-ji

, also known as or ), is a Buddhist temple and a former nunnery, the only survivor of a network of five nunneries called , in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the Rinzai school of Zen's Engaku-ji branch, and was opened by Hōjō Sadatoki in 1285. It is best known as...

. Hideyoshi's grave was destroyed by the shogunate, along with Kyoto's Toyokuni Shrine

Toyokuni Shrine

is a Shinto shrine located in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan. It was built in 1599 to commemorate Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It is the location of the first tamaya ever constructed, which was later destroyed by the Tokugawa clan....

. Chōsokabe Morichika was beheaded on May 11 while his gang member Ono Harunaga, who was wanted for over 10 years, was killed on June 27.

The bakufu obtained 650,000 koku

Koku

The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...

at Osaka

Osaka

and started rebuilding Osaka Castle. Osaka was then made a han (feudal domain), and given to Matsudaira Tadayoshi. In 1619, however, the shogunate replaced Osaka Domain with Osaka Jodai

Osaka jodai

were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were exclusively fudai daimyō. Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner" or "overseer" or "governor."...

, placed under the command of a bugyō

Bugyo

', often translated as "commissioner" or "magistrate" or "governor," was a title assigned to government officers in pre-modern Japan; other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given commissioner's tasks or jurisdiction....

who served the shogunate directly; like many of Japan's other major cities, Osaka was for the remainder of the Edo period not part of a han under the control of a daimyō

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

. A few daimyō including Naitō Nobumasa (Takatsuki Castle, Settsu Province 20,000 koku) and Mizuno Katsushige

Mizuno Katsushige

was a daimyo during the late Sengoku Period of Feudal Japan.The son of Mizuno Tadashige, he had in his younger years served Sasa Narimasa, for whom he fought in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Kyushu Campaign in 1587, Kato Kiyomasa, Konishi Yukinaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, for whom he fought in in the Siege of...

(Yamato Koriyama, Yamato Province 60,000 koku) moved to Osaka.

The Toyotomi clan

Toyotomi clan

was then disbanded. Tadanao was the first to arrive at Osaka Castle. He turned down the land reward, but instead received chaki

Chaki

Chaki is a Japanese term that literally means "tea implement." In the vocabulary of Japanese tea ceremony, it broadly means any implement used in the practice of chanoyu, and more narrowly means the caddy for the powdered green tea used in the tea-making procedures, although usually this...

. The lords of the castle over time thus were Ashikaga Yoshimasa

Ashikaga Yoshimasa

was the 8th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimasa was the son of the sixth shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori....

, followed by Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Ukita Hideie, and finally Hatsuhana Katatsuki.

After the fall of the castle, the shogunate announced laws including (one province can contain only one castle) and Bukeshohatto (or called Law of Buke, which limits each daimyō to own only one castle and obey the castle restrictions). The shogunate's permission had to be obtained prior to any castle construction or repair from then on. Many castles were also forced to be destroyed as a result of compliance with this law.

Despite finally uniting Japan, Ieyasu's health was failing. During the one year campaign against the Toyotomi clan and its allies, he received wounds that significantly shortened his life. Roughly one year later on June 1, 1616, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the third and last of the great unifiers, died at the age of 75, leaving the shogunate to his descendants.

In popular culture

The fall of Osaka is (For most of the characters) the final level in the Samurai Warriors

Samurai Warriors

is the first title in the series of video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based loosely around the Sengoku period of Japanese history and it is a spinoff of the Dynasty Warriors series...

series, also serving as the climax of Hattori Hanzo

Hattori Hanzo

, also known as , was a famous samurai and ninja master of the Sengoku era, credited with saving the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu and then helping him to become the ruler of united Japan. Today, he is often a subject of modern popular culture.-Biography:...

's, Ieyasu's and Yukimura's stories. Called the "Osaka Campaign", it compiles all the battles of the Winter and Summer Campaigns.

This is also the subject of the Hiroshi Inagaki's historical drama "Ōsaka-jō monogatari"(engl. The Tale of Osaka Castle, UK; some other English titles: "Daredevil in the Castle", "Devil in the Castle", "Osaka Castle Story") (1961) with Toshirō Mifune

Toshiro Mifune

Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo...

in the leading role. It is also the backdrop for Tai Kato

Tai Kato

was a Japanese film director and writer, most famous for making jidaigeki and yakuza films at the Toei Company. He directed films from the 1950s to the 1980s....

's musical film

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

Brave Records of the Sanada Clan

is a Japanese film directed by Tai Kato in 1963. It is a jidaigeki musical about Sasuke Sarutobi and the Sanada Ten Braves who, under the leadership of Yukimura Sanada, try to defend Toyotomi Hideyori during the siege of Osaka Castle by the Tokugawa armies...

(1963).

Outset

Winter Campaign

Summer Campaign

Aftermath

In popular culture

See also