The took place in 1600, occurring concurrently with 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...

. Kyōgoku Takatsugu

Kyōgoku Takatsugu

was a daimyo of Omi Province and Wakasa Province during the late-Sengoku Period of Japan's history.Takatsugu is recognized as the founder of the modern Kyōgoku clan. His forebears had been powerful since the 13th century, but their fortunes had waned after the Ōnin War...

 held Ōtsu castle for the Tokugawa

Tokugawa clan

The was a powerful daimyo family of Japan. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa and were a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Nitta clan. However, the early history of this clan remains a mystery.-History:...

, and commanded the garrison. Mōri Motoyasu and Tachibana Muneshige

Tachibana Muneshige

, known in his youth as Senkumaru and alternatively called Tachibana Munetora , was a samurai during the Azuchi–Momoyama period and a Edo Period daimyo. He was the eldest biological son of Takahashi Shigetane, a retainer of Ōtomo clan...

 laid siege. The sides negotiated and Takatsugu surrendered. However, in the meantime 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...

 had won the battle of Sekigahara, assuring his control of all Japan, and so the loss of Ōtsu was ultimately insignificant.

Some records of the time indicate that the local inhabitants brought picnic boxes and gathered at Mii-dera

Mii-dera

', formally called ', is a Buddhist temple located at the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu, in Shiga Prefecture. It is only a short distance from both Kyoto, and Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The head temple of the Tendai Jimon sect, it is something of a sister temple to Enryakuji, at...

 on Mount Hiei

Mount Hiei

is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga prefectures, Japan.The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tiantai sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by Saichō in 788. Both Nichiren and Honen studied at the temple before...

to observe the battle.