Phoenix Hall Writers' Blog

 

AZ II Buildings Series: Azuchi Castle                        Copyright © William Stong 2021

 

❷ During construction: 1576 up to June 5, 1579

 

I. The History

By late March, early spring, enough of Azuchi had been constructed to allow Oda Nobunaga to move in and more directly provide input on what he wanted to have built. For the rest of the construction time, he ran his goals of unifying Japan from Azuchi.

Even though Oda had scored several victories by the end of the (arbitrary) “Pre-construction” period, incessant fighting on all fronts continued throughout the “Construction” period with defeats and victories. In both periods, it seemed that whenever Oda was succeeding too well, his enemies would realign their alliances and attack him. Similarly, when Oda appeared weaker, areas already under his control did not hesitate to revolt.

During this period, Oda’s dominion had grown enough that he would order his commanders and allied daimyō onto campaigns to eliminate enemies (like the Ishiyama-Honganji Buddhists just to the south) or to invade surrounding fiefdoms (like the Uesugi clan to the north). In several cases, initial assaults directed by others were defeated and Oda would march in behind with more troops.

Even so, the Ishiyama-Honganji was so strong that Oda had to begin a siege of their massive stronghold (in what is today Osaka). To prevent Oda from winning, the Uesugi to the north and the Mōri to the west supported the Ishiyama-Honganji. That support included the Mōri navy which reprovisioned the besieged stronghold. In the north, the Uesugi invaded the lands Oda had taken when he crushed the Asakura family.

Luck still ran with Oda. On April 29, 1578 the formidable leader Uesugi Kenshin suddenly died. As with the powerful Takeda clan five years earlier, internal jockeying for the succession gave Oda the opportunity to not only recapture his lost lands in the Echizen and Kaga provinces in the northwest, but to also begin planning an invasion of Etchu province.

With a ceremony for the main keep, Azuchi castle was officially “opened” on June 5, 1579.

 

II. The Campaigns

 

NB: Font color legend.

❶ Green                   =          Favorable to Oda

❷ Black                    =          Neutral

❸ Red                       =          Adverse to Oda

 

1576    Oda Nobunaga gives Echizen province to Shibata Katsuie who moves the capital from Fuchu to the new Kitanosho castle. Shibata has a nephew drive deeper into Kaga province capturing Miyukizuka. During these campaigns, 30,000 to 40,000 prisoners are executed.

February 1576:          To the west, Tamba province revolts against the rule of Oda. Concurrently, Ishiyama-Honganji raises another army.

May 1576:      Oda orders Akechi Mitsuhide, Hosokawa Fujitaka, and others south with an army of 3,000. This force is defeated and seeks refuge in Tennoji which is besieged by Ishiyama-Honganji forces.

June 1576:      Oda Nobunaga leaves Azuchi castle to personally lead the fighting. He enters Wakae castle on June 11th but is only able to mobilize about 3,000 soldiers. Early in the morning of June 13, Oda leads this small force and attacks the 15,000-strong Ishiyama-Honganji army that is besieging Tennoji. It is a hard-fought battle, and Oda is wounded, but he defeats the enemy.

Oda initiates an encircling siege of the Ishiyama-Honganji main stronghold.

August 7, 1576:          A Mōri fleet consisting of 800 ships sails in from the Inland Sea. At the mouth of the Kizu river, this flotilla blows through the Oda ships blockading Ishiyama-Honganji. The Mōri replenishes the besieged with provisions and materiel.

The Uesugi in Echigo Province drop their alliance with Oda and begin to support Ishiyama-Honganji.  In other provinces, Ikkō-Ikki groups resist Oda.

December 1576:         Oda Nobunaga and his son Nobukatsu (who had been adopted by the Kitabatake clan) assassinate most of the remaining leaders of the Kitabatake, thus solidifying control of Ise province.

 

 

1577:               Oda sends his best general, Hideyoshi, west, into the lands dominated by the Mōri. Hideyoshi enters Harima province and is allowed to use Himeji castle as a base of operations. He invests Kozuki castle and it falls after seven days.

1577:               The invasions launched by Oda’s commander Shibata causes Uesugi Kenshin, the daimyō of Echigo to the north on the Sea of Japan, to mobilize 30,000 men to move against the Noto province.

February 1577:          Oda leaves with a large army to suppress Ikkō-Ikki adherents in Kishu.

April 1577:     In a mutual compromise, Saika Magoichi, the Ikkō-Ikki leader, surrenders and Oda, concerned about the Mōri navy in the rear and the Uesugi invasion of Noto province, withdraws from Kii province.

September/October 1577:    Matsunaga Hisahide in Yamato province revolts and raises an army.

October 1577:            Oda Nobunaga dispatches a large military force to Yamato province, commanded by his eldest son, Nobutada, who besieges Shigisan castle.

An interesting side note is that Matsunaga owned a famous tea bowl that Oda wanted for his collection. Oda offered more lenient surrender terms if Matsunaga turned over the tea bowl.

November 13, 1577:  In Kaga province, Oda and Shibata are defeated by the Uesugi at the battle of Tedorigawa. Oda returns to Azuchi in Omi province.

November 19, 1577:  Matsunaga Hisahide commits seppuku at Shigisan castle in Yamato province.

To deny Oda, Matsunaga instructs that the coveted tea bowl be tied to his head, along with a bag of gunpowder—thus ensuring that neither his head nor the artifact fall into Oda’s hands.

November 1577:        A samurai who is resisting Oda, Naito Sadamasa, dies of disease at Kameyama castle in Tamba province. Oda takes advantage of this and captures various castles in Tanba Province: Kameyama, Momi, and Sasayama.

 

 

March 1578:              Kai Shimoyama, a former minor Kitabatake vassal from Iga, visits Oda Nobukatsu (Nobunaga’s second eldest son) in Ise province and urges him to invade Iga. Nobukatsu dispatches Takigawa Kazumasu to build a castle at Maruyama in Iga to serve as a staging point for the campaign.

April 29, 1578:           The famous Uesugi leader, Uesugi Kenshin, suddenly dies, without a child and with no designated successor. A succession fight among the clan begins, the Otate War.

1578:   Oda takes advantage of this internal strife and recaptures Noto and Kaga provinces.

Oda prepares to invade Etchu province.

April 1578:     Bessho Nagaharu in Harima province revolts. Oda sends Hideyoshi who besieges Miki castle (which lasts until 1580).

1578:               As a defense against the Mōri navy and their fire-projectiles, Oda has his shipwright, Kuki, build iron-clad ships.

August 8, 1578:          The Mōri army enters Harima province and captures Kozuki castle.  

August 1578:  While supporting Oda’s key general Hideyoshi, Araki Murashige from Settsu province, abruptly disengages and returns to his own castle where he resists Oda and helps the Ishiyama-Honganji. Oda has Arioka castle besieged.

October 1578:            After working on building a castle inside Iga for six months, Takigawa is nearing the completion of Maruyama castle for Oda Nobukatsu.

November 1578:        The Araki revolt splits families. Takayama Ukon, unlike his father, decides to support Oda.

November 17, 1578:  Arioka castle falls to Oda, ending the Araki revolt.

November 24, 1578:  Alerted of Nobukatsu’s intentions by the construction of the castle, warriors from Iga attack Maruyama castle in broad daylight. Caught off guard, Takigawa is forced from the castle, which the Iga burn. When Takigawa reassembles the remnants of his forces at nearby Tsuzumigamine, he is again defeated and retreats back to Ise.

December 1578:         In an attempt to break the Oda blockade, a large Mōri fleet attacks but is defeated by the steel-clad ships built by Kuki for Oda. Lord Abbot Kosa agrees to a truce in which Oda offers generous terms: surrender the Ishiyama-Honganji complex, leave, and be resettled in Kii province.

 

 

June 5, 1579:  With a ceremony for the completion of the main tenshu (keep), Azuchi Castle is officially opened.

 

 

III. At the End

On June 6, 1579, Oda Nobunaga’s situation was:

► To the northwest, the former Asakura lands had been retaken

► To the north, the Uesugi clan had been weakened

► To the northeast, the Takeda clan was weakened

► The eastern border was along loyal ally Tokugawa lands

► To the south, Oda—using novel armored ships—had defeated the powerful Mōri navy, preventing them from reprovisioning Ishiyama-Honganji

► Directly south, the Ishiyama-Honganji siege was in place and stronger with the defeats suffered by the Uesugi and Mōri. A truce to discuss surrender terms was in place.

► To the west, Oda had captured Tamba province, part of Harima province, and several castles. His forces were poised to press further into the lands of Mōri allies along the length and breadth of Honshu.

► Close by, to the southeast, Oda’s son’s invasion of Ise was resoundingly defeated.

 

Overall, by the end of this period, Oda had largely consolidated his control of the center of Japan, including the imperial capital of Kyōto. The military strength of the Buddhists was bottled up in the siege of Ishiyama-Honganji. Three powerful daimyō, the Takeda, Uesugi, and Mōri had been weakened and/or pushed back.

 

 

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Sources:

► “Azuchi Castle: Architectural Innovations and Political Legitimacy in Sixteenth-Century Japan” ; A dissertation presented by Mark Karl Erdmann to The Department of History of Art and Architecture…Harvard University; Cambridge, Massachusetts; April 2016; © Mark Karl Erdmann.Architectural ; © p. 79

► A History of Japan, 1334–1615; © 1961; Sansom, George

► Sengoku Jidai. Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu: Three Unifiers of Japan; © 2018; Chaplin, Danny

► Ninja: The True Story of Japan’s Secret Warrior Cult; © 1991; Turnball, Stephen

► African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan; © 2019; Lockley, Thomas (and Girard, Geoffrey)

► Shinsengumi Archives

► Wikipedia

AZ II Buildings Series: Azuchi Castle                        Copyright © William Stong 2021

 

❶ Prior to construction: 1570 through 1575

I. The History

 During this period, Oda was under attack from all sides by a changing combination of samurai clans, Ishiyama-Honganji armed Buddhists, the bakufu, and groups of Ikkō-Ikki (also Buddhists). At times, usually when Oda was simultaneously defending his lands from several enemies on different fronts, some provinces under his control revolted and those, too, had to be put down. The amount of land Oda controlled ebbed and flowed with his defeats and victories.

There were two times that Oda came under tremendous pressure. Both times, he managed to extricate himself by having the imperial court arrange a truce/ceasefire.

Oda was quick to take advantage of any weaknesses of his enemies. Two of the most important during the period were:

► the sudden death of the Takeda clan’s leader, Takeda Shingen, and

► infighting among the Ikkō-Ikki groups

Repeatedly, when Oda scored victories and was becoming stronger, alliances among his enemies would shift and they would launch attacks on his lands, as if other forces in Japan did not want Oda to become too powerful.

Finally, Oda Nobunaga also took advantage of modern technology. In particular, he used the harquebus (a precursor to the musket) to devastating effect against the Takeda in the summer of 1575.

This period was one of virtually constant warfare against multiple enemies on all sides as well as internally.

 

II. The Campaigns

NB: Font color legend.

❶ Green                   =          Favorable to Oda

❷ Black                    =          Neutral

❸ Red                       =          Adverse to Oda

 

The period opens with Oda being under attack along his entire western border. From the northwest, it is the Azai and Asakura clans and, from the southwest, it is the Miyoshi clan. In addition, from the south, fighting with the Ishiyama-Honganji Buddhists begins, which will last a decade. The Buddhists at Enryaku-ji, just north of Kyōto, join the fight against Oda.

 

June 19, 1570:            Using a harquebus, a Koga sharpshooter hits Oda Nobunaga twice, knocking him off his horse. Oda’s armor saves his life.

Military campaigns against the Azai and Asakura clans continue.

July 30, 1570: At the Battle of Anegawa, Oda (with Tokugawa support) defeats the Azai and Asakura.

Summer 1570:           Fighting with the Ishiyama-Honganji to the south begins. Oda’s campaigns against the Ikkō-Ikki, both against the main stronghold of Ishiyama-Honganji and groups governing in various locations around Japan, last a decade.

September 1570:       In the southwest, Oda marches an army against the Miyoshi. Simultaneous attacks by men from the Ishiyama-Honganji, a 30,000 allied force from Azai and Asakura, and fighters from Enryaku-ji, Oda is defeated and has to retreat.

November 1, 1570:    Oda counter attacks Omi Province from Settsu, surprising the Azai and Asakura allied forces. Oda besieges the enemy at Usayama Castle. However, shortly after, the Ikkō Ikki of Ise Nagashima revolts (as directed by Kennyo, the hoshu (high priest) of Ishiyama-Honganji.

 

January 18, 1571:      Under tremendous pressure on several fronts, Oda approaches Emperor Ogimachi and receives an imperial order, by which he makes peace with the Azai and Asakura clans.

September 1571:        With 30,000 of troops, Oda surrounds the huge Enryaku-ji temple complex on Mt. Hiei and destroys the entire compound and everyone in it.

 

August 1572   Fighting between Oda and the Azai and Asakura resumes but not on a major scale.

September 1572         A few Asakura commanders surrender to Oda.

November 1572:        With 30,000 troops, the powerful Takeda head to Kyōto to support the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki. The Oda and Tokugawa home provinces are invaded since they lie between the Takeda lands and the capital. The Takeda take several castles.

 

March 1573    The Takeda press further into Tokugawa’s provinces and capture Noda Castle.

Although Oda had been instrumental in having Ashikaga Yoshiaki installed as shogun, to support the Takeda march on Kyōto, Ashikaga raises an army with the Miyoshi (in the southwest) and other clans.

May 1573                   Once again, surrounded and under huge pressure, Oda manages to have Emperor Ogimachi arrange a truce.

A few days later, Takeda Shingen suddenly dies. The Takeda clan’s attention turns inward to focus on the succession, thus reducing the pressure on Oda and Tokugawa.

August 1573:  With the Takeda distracted, Oda defeats Ashikaga in Kyōto at the Nijo Palace. Oda exiles Ashikaga and this is the end of the Muromachi bakufu.

Oda then attacks the Miyoshi in the southwest.

September 1573         Oda invades Echizen Province in the northwest with 30,000 men and defeats the Asakura clan.

Oda orders Hosokawa to attack the Miyoshi commander, Iwanari. Hosokawa lays siege to the Yodoko-jo Castle (the Second Battle of Yodokojo).

October 1573             A month later, Oda defeats the Azai clan.

End October – November 1573:      On his southeastern border, Oda marches into Ise Province with 30,000 men and initially captures several castles.

November 29, 1573   However, fierce resistance by Ikkō-Ikki followers forces Oda to retreat.

December 1573:         Facing stiff resistance from the Ikkō-Ikki, Oda withdraws from Ise Province.

To the southwest, the Miyoshi revolt which encourages the exiled Ashikaga to do the same. Oda sends troops to quell the uprisings. Several key Miyoshi retainers surrender to Oda, causing Miyoshi to commit suicide on December 20, thus substantially ending the Miyoshi clan.

 

January 28, 1574       In Yamato Province, Matsunaga Hisahide surrenders Tamonyama Castle to Oda.

February 1574           In Echizen Province, some samurai and followers of Ikkō-Ikki revolt and take over governance in parts of the province.

To support the insurrection, Takeda Katsuyori invades Oda’s Mino Province from the clan’s home base of Kai Province. Oda counter-attacks with his son Nobutada but Akechi Castle falls before they arrive. Oda withdraws.

April 1574      Oda Nobunaga travels to Kyōto and he is given the imperial title of Jusanmi Sangi (Councilor in the Junior Third Rank).

July 1574        Oda besieges Nagashima-cho in Ise Province (Mie Prefecture) with an amphibious operation involving 30,000 soldiers. An army of Ikkō Ikki attacks and many members of the Oda family are killed.

September 1574         The Ikkō Ikki army suffers a shortage of food and Oda takes Otorii Castle.

October 23, 1574       Out of food, the defenders of Nagashima Castle surrender with Oda agreeing to let them leave for Osaka by ship. However, two of Oda’s brothers are killed. Angry, Oda attacks the departing ships, causing part of the Ikkō Ikki army to attack the Oda army. In the ensuing fighting, Oda chases the Nagashima men into the Nakae and Yanagashima castles which he then takes. Possibly 20,000 followers of Ikkō Ikki are killed and the insurrection of Nagashima is obliterated.

 

February 1575           Eliminating Oda appointees and samurai, followers of the Ishiyama-Honganji began to govern Echizen Province through the Ikkō Ikki.

May 1575        At the head of 15,000 troops, Takeda Katsuyori attacks Nagashino Castle, the residence of Okudaira Sadamasa. Takeda wants to kill Okudaira because he betrayed the Takeda clan and became a vassal of the Tokugawa clan after the death of the famous Takeda Shingen. The Okudaira defenders fight well and it takes time for Nagashino Castle to fall.

June 30, 1575             During the siege, Oda marches out of Gifu with 30,000 troops.

July 5, 1575                Oda is joined by Tokugawa with an additional 8,000 troops at Noda in Mikawa Province.

July 6, 1575    The combined Oda and Tokugawa allied forces set up camp at Shitaragahara.

July 9, 1575    The Battle of Nagashino between the Oda and Tokugawa allied forces and the army of Takeda begins.

At the Battle of Nagashino, Oda and his ally Tokugawa devastate the vaunted Takeda cavalry with lines of harquebusiers behind screens that allow a continuous rate of fire.

September 1575         With the Takeda defeated on his northern border and the followers of Ikkō Ikki internally divided, Oda marches to Echizen Province. Possibly more than 10,000 Ikkō Ikki followers in the Echizen and Kaga Provinces are killed as Oda re-asserts control.

December 1575:         The Imperial Court confers honors upon Oda Nobunaga.

On December 16, 1575, Oda Nobunaga is given the title Gon Dainagon (Provisional Major Counselor).

On December 19, 1575, Nobunaga is given the title Ukone no daisho (Major Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards).

 

III. At the End

With some luck and the help of the Imperial Court, Oda Nobunaga managed to eliminate several enemies, significantly weaken others, and commence a long-term fight against the Ishiyama-Honganji Buddhists.

At the end of 1575, Oda Nobunaga had strengthened his northern border by the devastating defeat of the Takeda at Nagashino. Although still facing formidable daimyō on all sides, he had expanded the lands under his control:

• to the northwest by defeating the Azai and Asakura clans and the local Ikkō-Ikki
• to the southwest by defeating the Miyoshi clan

 

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Sources:

► African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan; © 2019; Lockley Thomas (and Girard, Geoffrey)

► Shinsengumi Archives

► Wikipedia