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Paper UTS

SENGOKU JIDAI:
THE SIEGE OF OSAKA CASTLE
History of Japan

NIM NAME
2201816285 Christy Immanuel
Juneza

CLASS LB 62
 BINUS UNIVERSITY
2018

PAPER ATTESTATION

History of Japan

1. Paper Title : Sengoku Jidai: The Siege of Osaka Castle

2. Writer : Christy Immanuel Juneza
2. Subject : History of Japan
3. Class : LB 62
4. Lecturer : Sri Dewi Adriani, S.S, M.Si.

Jakarta,………………….

Knowing,

( .....................................................) (....................................................)
Sri Dewi Adriani, S.S, M.Si. Christy Immanuel Juneza

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 PREFACE

This paper was written by the writer as History of Japan’s first semester’s midterm
assignment, as part of the writer’s subject of studies within Bina Nusantara University’s Japanese
Literature degree programme. Beforehand, the writer would like to say her thanks, mainly to the
Lord God, for giving the writer strength to write and manage her time, giving guidance in what
words to use, to her parents for all the support given, both in prayer, mentally and physically, and
of course to Ms. Dewi her lecturer, for this chance to indulge myself, the writer even further to a
part of history which the writer had been intrigued with for a long while.

Being a history enthusiast, the writer has a profound interest especially in the
Sengoku Jidai portion of Japanese history. Being one of the most popularized era as how its history
had been dramatically represented in a large number of modern culture, from novels to games, it
obviously has managed to land itself within the hearts of so many people. The writer, personally
sees history as an intricate story filled with the best plots and twists no author can possibly mimic,
which of course that ultimately truly had happened and is to be respected and later studied in hopes
that somehow humanity would not find itself falling into the same mistakes.

From the era of Sengoku Jidai, found mostly tales of destruction and death caused
by witty commanders that had set their ambition as their sole purpose in reaching satisfaction. Not
ending with that, it is also a story of romance, family and betrayals. There are marriages that were
made for the sole purpose of political gain by the propagator only to shadow a surprise attack on
an unsuspecting in laws. There are stories of a loyal servant that continued his master’s ambition
even after his death, with a humble beginnings to daring to set into flames, his own master’s sister,
in the name of his main goal, the unification of Japan.

The stage was set, the players, battle worn and the goal, a unified Japan under the
title of a shogun. The Sieges on Osaka, will be the final climax before the curtain closes on this
era. This final decisive turning point had been picked by the writer not only because of the weight
of the event but also to help readers pull out a conclusion from the whole Warring States Era, was
this particular part of history any different from others within our realm of space and time, were

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the uncountable deaths worth the power gained, will what these notable figures did, the battles
they’ve fought affects the future, in this present time.

Regardless of what the answers are, or whether a definite answer can be given or
not, the final chess pieces of this particular era are of an interesting bunch. With its commanders
being starkly different in so many dimensions, it would be a shame to miss an opportunity on
taking the time to get to know what were these people like, and how their nature affects their
decisions and how their decisions affects the outcome of this final unforgettable showdown.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover Page _______________________________________________________ i

Paper Attestation ___________________________________________________ii

Preface____________________________________________________________iii

Table of Contents ___________________________________________________v

Section I Background ________________________________________________1

1.1 Prelude of the Battle

1.1.1 The Situation ______________________________________________ 2

1.1.2 The Reasons _______________________________________________ 3
1.1.3 The Opposing Commanders __________________________________ 5

Section II Content

2.1 Winter Siege of Osaka ___________________________________________ 6

2.2 Peace Negotiations ______________________________________________ 10
2.3 Summer Siege of Osaka __________________________________________ 11

Section III Conclusion _______________________________________________18

Appendix __________________________________________________________19

Bibliography ______________________________________________________25

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 SECTION I

BACKGROUND

1.1 Prelude of the Battle

The Campaign, or rather campaigns of Osaka Castle, as it is consisted of the winter

and summer campaigns, was the final chapter of the long Sengoku Jidai or ‘Age of Warring
States’(1467-1615) that happened in Japan during its feudal times. The power of the shoguns
took a turn during this age and the post was temporarily abolished in 1568. From that moment
on, daimyo from around Japan have fought for the reunification of Japan, The first that set the
stepping stones was Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), continued by one of his own after his
demised in a surprise attack was Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), the one that shaped the
castle and its walls. (Morton and Olenik, 2018)

By 1591, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had conquered the whole of Japan, but his downfall
was his own ambition, having made disastrous war campaigns against China on Korean
grounds. He died in 1598, leaving his 5 year old son, Toyotomi Hideyori, too young to continue
his reign, this leads to Japan splitting itself once again. One side was a coalition of daimyo
which as a nominal supported Hideyori, and the other supported his deadliest rival, Tokugawa
Ieyasu.

Tokugawa Ieyasu is one of the most cunning daimyo ever to have lived and possibly
the greatest survivor of the Sengoku Jidai, born in 1542, he acquainted himself with pain and
danger for 13 years of being a child hostage, fought his first battle against the mighty Oda
Nobunaga himself. He as a persona has two strong, yet at times conflicting characteristics, a
headstrong willingness to lead samurais into the thick of battle regardless of his own survival
and having sound skills of astute diplomacy, mastery of psychological warfare and a feeling
for grand strategy. (Turnbull, 2014). He isn’t just a seasoned warrior for his age at this point,
he is a fearsome man to fight against, especially, supposedly in Hideyori’s child eyes.

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 During Hideyoshi’s reign, Hideyoshi wasn’t assured of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s
allegiance under him, and so with that in mind, Tokugawa Ieyasu was placed in Edo (today’s
Tokyo) eastern Japan, this allowed him and his troops to avoid service in Korea, instead, he
gained connections with foreign trades and confiscation of a score of cannons, 500 arquebuses,
5,000 cannon balls, gun powders and fire arrows which was used at his decisive victory over
the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

1.1.1 The Situation

The Battle of Sekigahara in October 21st of 1600, was one of the greatest
battle in Japanese history, between the Western Army (forces that are loyal to Toyotomi
Hideyori) and the Eastern Army (Forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu).

But within that battle, there’s one notable feature; the absence of Toyotomi
Hideyori himself and any direct involvement with him, whose inheritance laid as the
source of the struggle. Instead, Hideyori and his mother, Yodogimi was sidelined by
political manoeuvres by Katagiri Katsumoto, Hideyori’s personal guardian, whoose
efforts were rewarded by Ieyasu, doubling his territories. Not only did he managed to
secure Hideyori’s ‘confinement’ inside Osaka Castle, he had entangled him within the
bounds of marriage, a vital tool of social engineering. Ieyasu Tokugawa was bound by
matrimony with Hideyoshi’s sister. Hidetada, his son, married to Yodogimi’s sister, and
later Hideyori was married to Hidetada’s daughter. So in short, Toyotomi Hideyori’s
rival was his uncle and grandfather in law.

1605, Ieyasu retired from his office as a shogun (name-wise) in favour of his
son Hidetada. They made a huge celebration for this event and Hideyori was invited to
join in their festivities. But Yodogimi, Hideyori’s mother refused to let him leave Osaka
Castle. Hideyori, since then, never left his abide until 1611. Which was why a ruse by
the Tokugawa began, saying that Toyotomi Hideyori was effeminate and useless.

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1.1.2 The Reasons

There are three main events which led to become the reasons, with one of
them being made into a reason as to why this final battle occurred.

The first one begun with the first and final meeting between Toyotomi
Hideyori and Tokugawa Ieyasu. In order for this meeting in 1611 occurred, Ieyasu
placed his young sons, Yoshinao (12) and Yorinobu (9) as hostages under two
trustworthy daimyo. The meeting was held in Nijo Castle for two long hours, at its
conclusion, Ieyasu was said to be ‘greatly impressed by the bearing and demeanour of
the young man.’ Regardless, the meeting reassured Ieyasu with the thought that the great
Hideyoshi’s successor ‘was a mere slip of a lad who was no more the equal of his father
than was Hidetada of his.’ (Turnbull, 2014)

The second involved foreign gunpowder merchants, which begun with

Ieyasu Tokugawa’s close relationship with William Adams, an Englishman sent by
Queen Elizabeth I, under business related affairs of the East India Company (EIC). In
Japan, Adams obtained trading permits with Japan, among his staffs were three that had
immense importance in accounts of the Osaka campaigns; Richard Cocks, head of the
English factory in Hirado, William Eaton in Osaka and Richard Wickham in Edo.

The cold war-like situation between the two parties were hinted at by the EIC
from the pricings set upon English gunpowder. Proven through a letter from Richard
Cocks to Richard Wickham in January 1614, it reads;

‘also gunpowder, although it be under twenty tays the barrel, which is a low
price’. Cocks nevertheless wanted the powder to be disposed of, as it was ‘a dangerous
commodity to be kept’. (Turnbull, Stephen. Osaka 1615: The last battle of the samurai
(Campaign) (Kindle Locations 163-165). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.)

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 Adding to that, William Eaton (in Osaka) wrote to Richard Wickham on 11th
March 1614;
‘So at those rates I am not minded to sell as yet…’ (Turnbull, Stephen. Osaka
1615: The last battle of the samurai (Campaign) (Kindle Location 167). Bloomsbury
Publishing. Kindle Edition.

At the time twenty tays was a cheap price in Edo, whereas Osaka, having the
gunpowder sold at only six tays. This indicates that Hideyori felt that he had sound
security by the fact that there was less demand or rather, no demand at all for gunpowder
in Osaka. In contrast to this, Eaton had known that there’s a market for gunpowder in
Edo, but because the idea of shipping it directly from Osaka to Edo might raise
suspicion, it was sent via Hirado instead.

Lastly, with the immense bottomless wealth, Hideyori had commissioned

some into the building of the Great Buddha. Begun in May 1614, bronze was poured
into a mould that created an enormous bell that bore inscription in Chinese writings;
kokka anko, ‘may the state be peaceful and prosperous’. But the Ka and Ko can be read
in Japanese as ie and yasu, this gave Ieyasu the assumption that Hideyori was mocking
him. Also written on the bell was, ‘On the east it welcomes the bright moon, on the west
bids farewell to the setting sun.’ this alluded to Ieyasu that the east of Japan is inferior
to Hideyori in the west. With the third and final excuse was made, beginning the drums
of war.

After words got around, Hideyori took in many ronin (master-less samurai)
into Osaka Castle, and a sudden need of gunpowder in Osaka brought up the price which
was only six tays in the beginning to 26 tays, an increase of 433 per cent.

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1.1.3 The Opposing Commanders

Between the two opposing forces, there are four main players at hand out of
the numerous commanders present at the last stand of Osaka Castle. Two, from the
Osaka’s side’s are Toyotomi Hideyori (1593-1615), the son of Japan’s second great
unifier, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Sanada Yukimura (1567-1615), the man who’s called
“A Hero who may appear once in a hundred years.” And the other two, from the East or
Tokugawa’s side's are Ieyasu Tokugawa (1542-1616) himself, the one who’ve originally
had been given the title of Shogun in 1603 and his son, Tokugawa Hidetada (1579-1632)
who succeeded his father’s title after only being 2 years in office.

There were many aside from this four that had made accomplishment during
the campaigns, notably from the Tokugawa’s side, some will be explained in the next
section. But unfortunately the opposite can be said of Toyotomi’s side, as Hideyori the
leader himself, had such little to no contribution at all to the war.

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 SECTION II

CONTENT

2.1 Winter Siege of Osaka

On the 10th of October that year, Tokugawa Ieyasu received loyalty pledges from
50 daimyo under him, a few days after, Ikeda Toshitaka (1584-1616), one of the daimyo had
an audience with him at Sumpu and was sent to reinforce Amagasaki Castle, a fort that was
located just west of Osaka. Following after, Ieayasu Tokugawa left Sumpu on 12th of
November. With the first shots of the Osaka campaign fired in a minor skirmish on 14th of
November at Sakai, a port south of Osaka. Later, Date Msamune (1566-1636) ‘the one-eyed
dragon’ followed suit, making his way from Sendai, along with Uesugi Kagekatsu (1555-1623)
from Yonezawa, both were great northern daimyo. Then finally, on the same day Ieyasu arrived
in Nijo Castle in Kyoto, Hidetada, his son left Edo with the main body of the Tokugawa
samurai. And by 10th of December 1614, all of Tokugawa’s forces had arrived from the east
and resided in Kyoto.

A series of skirmish happened around Osaka castle, with the first being the Battle
of Kizugawaguchi, from 19th to 29th of December 1614 at the mouth of the Kizugawa.
Hachikusa Yoshishige (1581-1615) captured it for Tokugawa from Akashi Teruzumi.
Following that, the Battle of Shigino, at the north-eastern edge of the castle’s defences, the
area was captured by Uesugi Kagekatsu from Inoue Yoritsugu on the 26th of December.

The next battle is one of the famous ones, being the Battle of Imafuku. Satake
Yoshinobu managed to take over three forts from Yano Masanori and Iida Iesada on the same
day at night. Furuta Oribe Shigenari, a tea master of the Tokugawa’s, which was present at the
time in a military capacity, was unable to resist inspecting a barricade made from bamboos for
he was curious if they would make good teaspoons, but as he poked his head out, a chance

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bullet struck him, at that he pulled out a napkin and wiped away the blood nonchalantly, ‘as
expected from a tea master,’ commented by the people present.

Then the Battle of Bakuroguchi on the 29th of December where Ishikawa Tadafusa
(1572-1650) crossed the Kizugawa having won the previous battle and captured the fort of
Bakuroguchi from Susukida Kanesuke which was surprisingly drunk in a brothel. On that same
day, the Battle of Noda-Fukushima occurred, with Kuki Moritaka the son of Kuki Yoshitaka a
former pirate with superb naval expertise that gave Nobunaga the victory over Ikko-Ikki and
one of the leaders during the Korean invasion but later lost the Battle of Sekigahara. Kuki
Moritaka made use of mekura bune ‘blind ship’, similar to kobaya, the smallest type of
Japanese warship. Around it, placed 30cm diameter bamboo bundles as a protective screen all
round. Four square holes on each side, where barrels of 8 furanki (European breech-loading
swivel guns). With the bombardment of the mekura bune the fort of Noda was easily captured.

Despite the fierce attacks by the Tokugawa army, the Toyotomi had very litte
response apart from their attempts to recapture the above forts. Hideyori’s main principle as
he stayed within the confines of Osaka Castle was to sit and wait for Tokugawa to suffer from
hunger with his limited supply of relief before his own garrison suffer in the same fate. He had
no meetings with his generals at all aside from when they assembled together initially in the
main chamber of the castle’s yashiki, where the arrival of the late Hideyoshi’s golden gourd
insignia raised their spirits, later cut down again with Hideyori’s brief and un-useful utter
‘Thank you for all your trouble,’ was all that he said and he left the audience immediately
afterwards. His mother, Yodogimi thought that it would raise the morale of their army if she
and four ladies-in-waiting wore samurai armour, but this resulted the Toyotomi army to come
into the conclusion that there had been a deficit of real leaders they could count on. In the
absence of any strategy, Osaka Castle was outnumbered and surrounded by the end of 1614.

This brings us to the last stand of Osaka castle’s defences, the Battle of Sanada-
maru, on the 3rd and 4th of January 1615. As the name implies, the Sanada-maru was managed
by Sanada Yukimura himself, where he engineered a mound of earth, piled up in front to create
a firing platform, with bundles of straw containing sand were arranged on top to give an

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absorbent front parapet or support. With all the other surrounding forts occupied by the
Tokugawa, Ieyasu and Hidetada advanced their headquarters further in, with Ieyasu set up his
in Chausuyama and Hidetada in Okayama, where they prepare for the first major attack
towards Osaka Castle. The target being, was the Sanada-maru and the dry moat and wall. One
of Tokugawa’s officers, Maeda Toshitsune’s men were lured into the Sanada-maru through
mere insults, and as they tried to climb the walls, Sanada’s men wiped them out completely
with arquebus fire. With its possibility of crossfire into the ditch, it was a death trap. As
casualties mounting, an order for retreat was called, but because of how noisy the battle was,
it wasn’t heard. So a new plan was made, the men behind made their move towards the men in
the moat and fired at random. Their comrades, surprised by the friendly fire, was then ‘attacked
to safety’, therefore the need for an actual retreat was avoided. As the men progressed further,
they pass through the gateway of Hachomeguchi, protected by a toraguchi ‘tiger’s mount’ gate
way, it was designed in such a way that the attacker would need to turn 90-degree up, but
because of the immense assault, they finally managed to officially but temporarily entered
Osaka Castle. Later, on 4th January 1615, Todo Takatora (1556-1630) leading the Tokugawa
forces towards the west gate, Tanimachiguchi. But once they got in, the counterattack drove
them back out, Todo Takatora’s hata bugyo (flags commissioner) played a huge role rallying
the retreating army, as was written in an account from Shahon Heiyo Roku:

At the time of the Winter campaign of Osaka, when Todo Izumi no kami’s vanguard
were routed, the Todo family’s hata bugyo Kuki Shirobei hoisted three out of the flags he was
entrusted with, and stepped forward into the middle of the fleeing men. He set up the flags
where they could be seen, and Shirobei knelt down, with the flags in front of the vanguard
standing firm, and the soldiers who had been retreating were encouraged by this and came to
a halt. Soon they turned back, dressed their ranks, and were again fighting men. Turnbull,
Stephen. Osaka 1615: The last battle of the samurai (Campaign) (Kindle Locations 866-870).
Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Because of the exhausting experience, Hidetada confirmed his father’s worst fears
from his experience that no attack on such a huge and well defended castle was to succeed.
And with that, they deployed their artillery weapons. The canons and muskets were of English,

8
Dutch and Japanese origin, of course most were because of the help Ieyasu gotten from Captain
Adams and his previously mentioned merchants. Tokugawa Ieyasu bought 4 culverins and one
saker, culverins fires and 8kg in a shot, while the sakers 2.5kg. He got 5 ishibaya (a cannon
that fires a shot of 1 kanme or more) from the Dutch, the smaller Dutch cannons fires 1 kanme
500 monme (5.6kg), the larger 5 kanme (16-18.8kg). But the records of trading between
Tokugawa and the Dutch is not as detailed as the one with the English, so it is still unclear
exactly how much did Ieyasu get, but one thing is clear, the ten foreign cannons dwarfed his
290 Japanese cannons, the shibatsuji (fires 1 kanme 500 monme) deployed around Osaka
Castle. Whereas on Hideyori’s side were 2 cannons on both sides of the Sakura gate that were
called furanki, the typically used cannon in Japan prior to the Dutch’s arrival in 1600, although
it is noted that these furanki (shoots 1 kanme) may have been of Portuguese origin. With that
Tokugawa bombarded Osaka Castle from 8th to 10th January 1615, in a limited fashion, at ten
o’clock at night and at dawn. While this was going on, miners of the Tokugawa began digging
a tunnel under the walls. Messages calling the defenders to surrender fired by arrows into the
castle, but to deaf ears. Finally a full blown bombardment began on the 15th of January 1615,
this brought to Japan a previously unknown terrifying experience, the sound of the cannons
firing could be heard from Kyoto. Unbeknownst to the defenders, the sound dealt more damage
to them mentally rather than it physically damage the castle walls which was around 14.5km
in circumference with massive stone bases with a solid earth core, ultimately invulnerable to
even the greatest of cannons. It is to be noted, that in 1945, the stone base of Hiroshima Castle
not only survived but withstood the atomic bomb. Regardless, Japanese castles also has
superstructures made of wood raised on top of those stones, providing accommodation, storage
and defensive areas.

On 15th January 1615, a shot from the cannon managed to penetrate into Yodogimi,
Hideyori’s mother’s rom as she was inside, this caused great alarm to the lady. Anf finally,
again on 17th January, the anniversary of Hideyoshi’s death, Ieyasu calculated that Hideyori
would visit his father’s shrine in the castle, so a cannon was fired but it had missed Hideyori,
but rather his mother’s apartment again, this time taking out a pillar, crushing two ladies-in-
waiting to death. Yodogimi have had enough, she finally influenced her son into the
negotiation table.

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2.2 Peace Negotiations

Offers were made to and fro Osaka Castle to Ieyasu through a third party, it was
between Yodogimi and her sister’s close friend, Ieyasu’s chief lady-in-waiting, Ocha no
tsubone. The initial offer by Ieyasu was a free pardon to all ronin, and promising Hideyori two
provinces in exchange of Osaka. But the area offered were completely under Tokugawa’s rule,
so Hideyori refused and demanded two provinces in Shikoku, obviously unacceptable to
Ieyasu. While Yodogimi was desperate for peace, the officers of Osaka, Hideyori included
were not amused, stating that he’d be ready to make the castle his tomb. Some were aware of
the peace settlement between Ieyasu and the Ikko-Ikki around fifty years prior, one of the
settlement was that the temples would be restored, but instead Ieyasu had them all burned,
saying the green fields was their natural state, with that they concluded that Ieyasu cannot be
trusted.

But finally, on 21st of January 1615, Yodogimi was said to be ‘overjoyed’ that a
satisfactory settlement had been made. The final document of surrender, sealed by blood from
Ieyasu’s finger said, all ronin inside the castle will not be held into account, Hideyori’s revenue
should remain as it was and both he and Yodogimi may choose freely where they prefer to
live. On the next day, thousands of Ieyasu’s men put down their swords, by Hidetada, the
shogun’s orders in their stead pickaxes and shovels, with them they began to demolish Osaka
Castle’s outer wall, the rubble produced tossed into the moat. Yodogimi was furious, but when
she sent out a protest, Ieyasu was already on his way back to Kyoto. The protest reached him
when the destruction was almost completed, he retorted by saying, since peace had been
established, there’s no need for walls anyway.

On 28th of January 1615, Ieyasu reported to the emperor, the wonderful peaceful
conclusion of the Winter Campaign over Osaka. But on the 8th of February, he commissioned
more cannons to be made from Kunitomo’s gunsmiths. And so began the Summer Campaign.

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2.3 Summer Siege of Osaka

With the castle weakened, and the Toyotomi forces seemingly did not know of
Ieyasu’s plans, everything was at his mercy. Ieyasu and Hidetada had planned to again, occupy
Chausuyama and Okayama, creating siege lines of bombardment from a closer range towards
the castle. But instead of a siege, they were met by the expecting Toyotomi forces far outside
from the castle walls. Prior to the Winter campaign, Toyotomi’s officers wanted to stall the
Tokugawa by securing the paths to Osaka through the Ikoma mountains, but Hideyori didn’t
care for the plan, this time however with the castle weakened, he really did not have much
choice, to attack in this case was the best defence, so the winter plans were put into operation
but in a much reduced scale. Tokugawa brought into the war 150,000 to 160,000 men, at such
a number, their movement towards Osaka could not be kept in secret, whilst on Toyotomi’s
side 60,000 to 120,000 men, it was not clear the number of ronin present.

Ieyasu Tokugawa left Sumpu, for the last campaign of his life on 1st of May 1615.
His son, Hidetada on May 7th. And on 22nd of May 1615, all of Tokugawa’s daimyo began
their march against Osaka Castle. Ono Harufusa, one of the Toyotomi’s met the Tokugawa’s
on the Nara road the next day, ignoring the superstition that anyone crossing the Kuragari Pass
would lose a battle, he charged the Tokugawa in Koriyama Castle. Unfortunately the castle
stood, and he made his way back to Osaka, burning the villages of Kamida and Horyoji on his
way, but left the Horyoji Temple standing, which remains to this day as the oldest wooden
building in the world. Again on the 24th, Harufusa set out again, this time south of Osaka, along
its bay, but met with Asano Nagaakira in the Castle of Wakayama that was getting ready to
leave with 5,000 men against Osaka Castle on the 26th of May 1615. Outnumbered and
defeated, Ono Harufusa withdrew to Osaka.

Finally on 2nd of June that year, Ieyasu and Hidetada made their way at the head of
the Tokugawa army. Ieyasu was riding in a palanquin, with no armor, wearing a white kimono
and a tea-colored haori ‘jacket’. Their army divided into two; 38,000 under Date Masamune,
taking the Nara road in the East and 121,000 under the Tokugawa father and son through the
southern part of the Ikoma mountains, they stayed the night of 2nd June at Hoshida while Date

11
Masamune kept on his way, trodding his way towards one of the greatest encounters in samurai
history in the Battle of Domyoji ‘the battle among the tombs’. The battle was fought around
kofun, key hole shaped artificial mountains enclosed by moats, with some larger than the
pyramids of Egypt were the burial grounds of Japan’s ancient emperors. Among them was of
Emperor Ojin, deified as the god of war, making it an appropriate place to have a battle in.

Goto Mototsugu of the Toyotomi, with his 2,800 samurai went on a mission to
secure the heights of Komatsuyama on 3rd of June 1615. This was along the route of Date
Masamune of the eastern Tokugawa army, from Komatsuyama Goto Mototsugu could fall on
them as they emerged. As dawn broke, a dense fog rised up, the Tokugawa army had already
arrived at the pass and were sending detachments to the eastern slopes of Komatsuyama.
Mototsugu’s samurai managed to drive back Honda Tadamasa and Matsudaira Tadaaki of the
Tokugawa back, but the 10,000 more under Date Masamune were approaching. But in spite of
that, Mototsugu held his ground, waiting for the rest of the Osaka army reinforcements. But
around 10 in the morning, while the Osaka reinforcements were still lost in the fog, Mototsugu
was shot and committed seppuku. Advancing, the Tokugawa’s forces ford the river to meet the
Osaka main body. Finally on 12 afternoon, Sanada Yukimura’s forces arrived and clashed with
Date Masamune’s, outnumbered and with so many dead here and there, including Susukida
Kanesuke who was in a brothel while his fort was being captured during the winter siege,
Sanada Yukimura retreated not wanting to lose more. Tokugawa Tadateru, Ieyasu’s sixth son
was ordered to pursuit, but as he was exhausted from the long march, much like the rest of the
army, he refused, thus ending the battle.

The next coming battle would be the Battle of Yao on the same day, a flat area
criss-crossed by rivers and having key roads leading to Osaka from the Ikoma mountains
passes. But the superstitious Ieyasu dare not use the Kuragari pass, but went on the southern
road where Chosokabe Morichika’s 5,300 men tried to stop Todo Takatora’s 5,000 near the
Yao village (now Osaka’s suburbs). Though he failed, he managed to kill Takatora’s two sons,
buried in the Jokoju Temple grounds in Yao. As an eerie memento, Todo Takatora held a brief
head-viewing ceremony inside the temple, without having the heads washed, labelled with its’
name and vanquisher’s, teeth blackened, hair combed and presented on a spiked wooden board.

12
Instead it was ‘freshly’ presented, the blood seeped then stained the floorboards of the Jokoji
Temple, and until now is preserved as their ceiling.

At the same time The Battle of Wakae occurred, the battle that is depicted on
Japan’s finest painted battle screens in the Hikone Castle Museum. A battle between
Toyotomi’s Kimura Shigenari and Tokugawa’s Red Devils, Li Naotaka’s army. Began with a
rain of bullets from their arquebusiers, Li Naotaka charged Kimura’s army. The Kimura
samurai were soon began retreating, but Kimura Shigenari got killed and his head rolled. By
Ando Shigekatsu, whose ‘red devil’ armour is kept in Osaka Castle Museum to this day, his
head was brought to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Happy, he was given five gold coins. Kumura
Shigenari’s brother, Muneaki distanced himself from the disasters of Wakae with 300 men to
Yoshida village, only to be met with the main body of the Tokugawa force with Ieyasu and
Hidetada. But none of the Tokugawa’s cared for Muneaki’s presence, as they simply brushed
him aside.

A war meeting was held inside Osaka Castle in the night of 3rd June 1615, Hideyori,
stricken in fear at the empty seats of some of his best advisers once were, made a decision with
the generals spared by the Tokugawa’s; they could not risk another siege of Osaka Castle, so
instead have the battle be fought between the Hiranogawa and the sea. With no more
hindrances, Tokugawa wanted to take up positions on Chausuyama and Okayama, but to his
surprise they were already occupied by the de facto ‘a massive army of desperate men’ under
Sanada Yukimura. And so the last battle was about to begin, the Battle of Tennoji. On
Yukimura’s left was Kimura Muneaki who fought with his brother in Wakae and a large army
of ronin under Mori Katsunaga. On Yukimura’s south, a detachment under Sanada Nobuyoshi,
his son whom will soon come into battle against his own brother which was serving Ieyasu
Tokugawa, Honda Tadatomo, Asano Nagashige and Akita Sanesue all were Ieyasu’s left
flank’s vanguard. To their south, Ogawasara Hidemasa, Hishina Masamitsu, Sakakibara
Yasukatsu, Suwa Tadazumi and Matsudaira Tadanao, Ieyasu’s own grandson, who fought
admirably at Hachomeguchi during the winter campaign. Date Masamune guards the road
parallel to the seacoast, and Asano Nagaakira behind him. Tokugawa’s right wing was still
moving into place with a large part of Maeda Toshitsune’s flanked by Katagiri Katsumoto and

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Tokugawa Hidetada still on his way from Hirano keeping close to the river on his right for
protection. Behind him, the nephews, Tokugawa Yorinobu and the newly wed Tokugawa
Yoshinao whose wedding ceremony was made a reason to conceal Ieyasu’s true intention of
making his way to Osaka earlier in May 1615. With no fog whatsoever to hide these many
men, it must have been a striking sight to behold as the chess pieces are falling into place in
this massive land. The Tokugawa’s target was Okayama and Chausuyama hills. Though
outnumbered heavily, Toyotomi’s side had a good plan, technically speaking. Sanada
Yukimura and Mori Katsunaga will hold the Tokugawa in the center while the Tokugawa’s
main body was still strung out of order along the roads, while Akashi Morishige makes a wide
sweep to the right along the seacoast, falling on Ieyasu’s army from the side. Chosokabe
Morichika will wait for a chance to make a similar move on Ieyasu’s right, and Toyotomi
Hideyori himself would make his way out of the castle grounds bearing Hideyoshi’s golden
gourd standard. The plan was excellent, but timing, extremely crucial, attacking too late, the
Tokugawa’s main body would take up ordered positions, attacking too soon would be inviting
their own demise especially because Chausuyama being their right flank’s position making it
too secure for the Toyotomi to go around it and attack. But to sit and wait is as agonizing as
what would be the actual battle itself, notably the ronin desperate, vengeful and undisciplined,
a ronin opened fire at the Tokugawa’s, continued by the others, refusing to stop even by Mori
Katsunaga their commander nor Sanada Yukimura their supreme commander, shattering the
plan completely, adding to that Akashi Morishige amazingly got lost on his way to his post in
a summer’s day by the sea. Having no control whatsoever, Mori Katsunaga went with his
adrenalin and advanced, dividing himself into two, scattered facing the Tokugawa’s and
quickly withdrew in disorder only to come face to face with Matsudaira Tadanao’s large
contingent behind them. Sanada Yukimura acted quickly and sent his son, Sanada Daisuke
back to Osaka Castle to urge Hideyori into making his grand entrance quickly in desperate
attempts to save the battle plan as he himself clashed with Matsudaira Tadanao. This concludes
the first phase of the battle, which was the Battle of Tennojiguchi.

The second phase, the Battle of Okayamaguchi and the fall of Osaka Castle, Sanada
Yukimura and Mori Katsunaga managed to start driving the Tokugawa’s back slowly, that was
until Asano Nagaakira of Wakayama with his 5,000 men moved in from the extreme left flank

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of the Tokugawa, misjudging his distance, he was advancing against Tokugawa’s own army
and not his enemies, this brought up scenes of the Sekigahara Battle that was won by the
Tokugawa by a treacherous defection, ‘Treason!’ cries went up, and panic was amongst the
Tokugawa’s. Ieyasu Tokugawa feeling concerned, rushed in to steady his troops only
accompanied by one attendant. Sanada Yukimura, advancing at the head of his victorious
samurai saw Ieyasu unprotected and engaged him in a man to man combat. Ieyasu was
extremely horrified by Sanada’s advancement and this brought our story into a blur, as one
version said Ieyasu was wounded by a spear thrust into his kidneys, another tells that Ieyasu
was killed then and there, and his place was taken by a kagemusha ‘double’ so that his men
will not lose morale. It is said that the real gravestone of Ieyasu is in Nanshoji Temple in Sakai,
and the glorious Toshogo Shrine in Nikko holds the body of the double. If however that were
true, then the Tokugawa were much better at recovering than the Osaka army a few minutes
after, for Sanada Yukimura, the real man himself, exhausted from the battle, collapsed on a
camp stool too tired to continue, took off his helmet, confirming his identity, and at once
Nizaemon rode and beheaded Yukimura. Deprived of its supreme commander, the Toyotomi’s
morale sank and were scattered by Li Naotaka’s Red Devils and Todo Takatora’s attack, sent
by Hidetada, successful, they both returned to their posts by Hidetada. And finally, Date
Masamune, the so-called ‘one-eyed dragon’ started to move into battle, icily shooting his own
men that were resting after an attack. This whole situation took away almost every last bit of
Toyotomi’s fighting spirit, and they began to fall back into the castle, into the vicinity of the
former Sanada maru where some comrades were also retreating from Okayamaguchi, where a
parallel battle had been going on at the same time.

Earlier that day in Okayamaguchi, Hidetada’s forces were advancing towards

Okayama when a battle erupted between Maeda Toshitsune and Ono Harunaga in the west. Li
Naotaka and Todo Takatora hurried back to Hidetada’s side but the battle was so fierce that
the Red Devil’s standard bearers got killed. After all of the discouraging events happening
from the Toyotomi’s point of view, Hideyori himself decided to gallop his way out into battle
facing his father in law, Hidetada, beside him was Sanada Daisuke, whose father, Yukimura
has just been killed. Hideyori strides out of Osaka castle gates as his forces were retreating
from Tennojiguchi and Okayamaguchi, both pursued by the Tokugawa’s. Not long before

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Hideyori’s departure, rumours of treachery came about saying, the moment Hideyori leaves
the castle, someone inside will set fire to it. Unfortunately as the situation was so dire, Hideyori
had to pull back after going no further than the gate. At around four at noon, Mizuno
Katsushige (1546-1651) had marked his territory by planting his standard at the Sakura gate.

The clock thickens as the sun was setting so was Osaka Castle, Ieyasu’s artillery
had begun to open fire towards the castle’s keep. The townspeople of jokamachi who have
settled in after the end of the Winter campaign near the castle began to ran amock in panic to
flee from the scene as was depicted in the two painted screens in Osaka Castle Museum, many
were shown looting, raping, all filled in violence. As Hideyori’s army slowly managed to
pushed back the Tokugawa’s, inside the inner bailey a fire has started, as the rumours had said,
the perpetrator was believed to have been Hideyori’s chief cook. By 5:00 pm, the fire had
spread so wildly that the inner moat was under the cover of smoke. Seeing this many of
Hideyori’s officers commited seppuku. While Hideyori and Yodogimi were moved by a senior
councillor to a fireproof storehouse. Then Ono Harunaga sent Sen hime, Hideyori’s wife, with
protection to seek sanctuary with Tokugawa Hidetada, her father and Tokugawa Ieyasu, her
grandfather. When the sun rises on the 5th of June, Hideyori still hiding in the storehouse, being
shot at continuously by the artillery decided that it’s time to end it all. He, Yodogimi his
mother, the 30 men and women who accompanied them to their final, all commited seppuku.

As fire spread to the magnificent keep of Osaka castle, most of its generals were
dead, by murder and suicide. All that were captured beheaded, so were the ronin, Record tells,
there were 18 rows of planks with around 1,000 heads on displayed per plank, one of them
were of Hideyori’s son, Kunimatsu, 7 years of age, beheaded so that no heir shall come forth
of the great Hideyoshi. A year later, Richard Cocks the merchant wrote in a letter sent to a
trader somewhere in East Asia, describing the state of Osaka:

Also we have had great troubles and wars in Japan since our arrival, which hath
put us to much pains and charges in sending up and down to save our goods, and yet for all
that some is lost and burned, two great cities being burned to the ground, each one of them
being almost as big as London and not one house left standing, the one called Osaka and the

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other Sakai; and, as it is reported, above 300,000 men have lost their lives on the one part and
other. Yet the old Emperour Ogosho (Ieyasu) Samme hath prevailed & Fidaia (Hideyori)
Samme either slain or fled secretly away that no news is to be heard of him. Turnbull, Stephen.
Osaka 1615: The last battle of the samurai (Campaign) (Kindle Locations 1552-1556).
Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

As Osaka castle had fallen, Hideyori died, marked the end of Sengoku Jidai, and
brought in the two and a half century Tokugawa Era, an era where Japan was cut off from the
outside world. Even though Ieyasu himself was the progressives of establishing tradings with
the West.

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 SECTION III

CONCLUSSION

The completion of Osaka castle by Hideyoshi Toyotomi was the hallmark of the
Sengoku period, but regardless of how the people at the time thought that Japan had been unified,
it was the destruction of Osaka castle that closed the curtains for the Warring States era and brought
Japan under the Tokugawa rule. Many people saw Ieyasu Tokugawa as someone who was not just
an experienced, magnificent warrior but equally intellectual in calculating and strategizing his
steps to gain victory in each battle, but I as the writer, though I may not completely contradict the
previous statement, I do not agree to it fully either. Toyotomi Hideyori, his rival, was but only 22
years old at the time of his death, all his life he had no real experience of his great father aside
from the songs people sang of his father’s past greatness, and Yodogimi his mother, knowing the
true sly nature of Ieyasu tried her best to protect his son from him by confining him within the
castle almost all Hideyori’s life. In all retrospect, if the two men were scaled together, the result
would be easily predicted. Regardless of having an array of samurai, each a man of valor under
Hideyori, none dared to take over the reigns after seeing how indecisive Hideyori was upon facing
the war, had they deployed the plan to meet Tokugawa’s army away from the castle walls during
the winter siege instead of the summer campaign, the results may have differ. But then again, we
can also say the same to every single event that happened not just during this battle but in
everything. Fortunately modern Japan even now, greatly respects the Toyotomi name in spite of
the rumours spread by the Tokugawa of how Hideyori was an effeminate man. To this day the
Toyotomi clan’s insignia had been used as the Government Seal of Japan as a form of respect to
the late Toyotomi. And as for the current heir of the Tokugawa clan, though recently deceased
(2017) was a graphic designer for Honda the motor company, wrote about his family’s history
after the Meiji Restoration and opened up a coffee shop under the brand name Tokugawa Shōgun
Kōhī. It is easy to conclude that no matter how fierce you are in your race for power, it will all
come to an end someday, all men will die, remembered or not, all the power, the fame and the
glory will come to a close. I thank you for reading this paper, I would hope that the reader would
gain an insight from it.

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 APPENDIX

The Siege of Osaka Castle 1614

Cutaway panorama of Osaka Castle in 1614 featuring the siege of Lord Ieyasu.
First appeared in 'Stephen Biesty's Castles'
published by Hodder 2004.
Watercolour on Paper 285mm x 450mm.
Copyright Stephen Biesty 2004.

Source: http://www.stephenbiesty.co.uk/galleries_cutaway_panoramas_OsakaCastle.html

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Archaeology.jp. (2011). Osaka Castle Wall Stone Quarry. [online] Available at:
http://archaeology.jp/sites/2011/ishikiri.htm [Accessed 24 Oct. 2018].

Henshall, K. (2012). A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower. 3rd ed.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y.
10010: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

Morton, W. and Olenik, J. (2005). Japan: Its History and Culture. 4th ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Sansom, G. (1993). A History of Japan 1334-1615. 1st ed. Tokyo: Tuttle.

Turnbull, S. (2014). Osaka 1615: The Last Battle of the Samurai. London: Osprey Pub.

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