| Siege of Shika Castle | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Sengoku period | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Takeda clan | castle garrison | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Takeda Shingen Itagaki Nobukata | Kasahara Kiyoshige † | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 3000 | 2600 | ||||||||
The siege of Shika castle, which took place in September 1547, was one of many battles fought in Takeda Shingen's bid to seize control of Shinano Province.
The battle took place during the 16th-century Sengoku period, also known as the "Age of Civil War". After the Ōnin War (1467–77), the shōgun 's system and taxation had increasingly less control outside the province of the capital in Kyoto, and powerful lords ( daimyōs ) began to assert themselves. Such lords gained power by usurpation, warfare or marriage—any means that would safeguard their position. It was manifested in yamajiro ("mountain castles"), which overlooked the provinces. [1]
One of the most ambitious and successful warlords of the period was Takeda Shingen, the daimyō of the Takeda clan, which dominated Kai Province. Bordering Kai to the north was Shinano Province, a large mountainous territory which was not controlled by a single clan but by several relatively weak ones, notably the Suwa, Ogasawara clan, Murakami and Takato. As such it was an attractive target to its neighbours, in particular the Takeda to the south and Uesugi clan of Echigo Province to the north. Takeda Shingen's father, Takeda Nobutora, had already made a probing expedition into Shinano in 1536 (leading to the Battle of Un no Kuchi), and after becoming daimyō himself Shingen mounted his own invasion in 1542, which ended with the successful conquest of the Suwa, and then followed that up with the defeat of the Takato in 1543-5, and of the turncoat Oi Sadakiyo in 1546. Fresh from the defeat of the Sadakiyo, in 1547 he then turned his attention to Shika castle, controlled by Kasahara Kiyoshige. Securing this castle would secure the Takeda position in the Saku Valley and enable Shingen to advance on into the northern half of Shinano.
Takeda Shingen laid siege to the castle on 8 September 1547. This move alarmed Uesugi Norimasa, who feared that Shingen might conquer the whole of Shinano if left unchecked. He therefore sent an army into the province to relieve Shika, commanded by Kanai Hidekage, but Shingen ambushed and defeated this force at the battle of Odaihara. The Takeda forces collected the severed heads of 15 samurai and around 300 ashigaru from the battlefield at Odaihara and subsequently paraded these round the walls of Shika in a bid to intimidate the garrison into surrender. Kasahara continued to hold out nevertheless, but then at noon on 23 September a fire broke out within the castle, greatly damaging the defences. Shingen seized the opportunity to mount an assault that evening, in which Kasahara was killed. [2]
The fall of Shika spurred Murakami Yoshikiyo, the most powerful Shinano daimyō, into moving against the Takeda, and in 1548 he succeeded in defeating Shingen at Uedahara. However this was only a temporary setback for Shingen, who went back on the offensive in Shinano in 1550 and drove Yoshikiyo out of Shinano after the 1553 Siege of Katsurao. This in turn prompted a renewed Uesugi intervention in Shinano, led by their new daimyō Uesugi Kenshin, which culminated in the famous Battles of Kawanakajima.
Takeda Shingen's famous display of severed heads before the walls of Shika is depicted in the 1969 Japanese film Fūrin Kazan ('Samurai Banners'), which follows the careers of Shingen and his general Yamamoto Kansuke.
Takeda Shingen, of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent daimyō in feudal Japan with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen had been a warlord of great domestic skill and competent military leadership. He was a complicated figure, at times utterly cruel.
The Battles of Kawanakajima were a series of battles fought in the Sengoku period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province from 1553 to 1564.
Uesugi Kenshin was a daimyō who was born as Nagao Kagetora, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful daimyōs of the Sengoku period. While chiefly remembered for his prowess on the battlefield, Kenshin is also regarded as an extremely skillful administrator who fostered the growth of local industries and trade; his rule saw a marked rise in the standard of living of Echigo.
Murakami Yoshikiyo was a Japanese samurai from the Murakami clan and retainer of the Uesugi clan during the Sengoku period of the 16th century. Yoshikiyo followed in fighting against both Takeda Nobutora and his son Takeda Shingen. Yoshikiyo was also a very close ally under Uesugi Kenshin and one of Shingen's bitterest opponents for his high kill-counts in their conflicts.
Sanada Masayuki was a Japanese Sengoku period lord and daimyō. He was the head of Sanada clan, a regional house of Shinano Province, which became a vassal of the Takeda clan of Kai Province.
Takeda Katsuyori was a Japanese daimyō of the Sengoku period, who was famed as the head of the Takeda clan and the successor to the legendary warlord Takeda Shingen.
The Battle of Uedahara (上田原の戦い) was the first defeat suffered by Takeda Shingen, and the first field battle in Japan in which firearms were used. It took place in Shinano Province or the modern-day Nagano Prefecture.
Itagaki Nobukata was a retainer of the Takeda family. He was known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". His name is also seen with different kanji as 信形.
Ogasawara Nagatoki (小笠原長時) was a Japanese samurai daimyō of Shinano Province in the Sengoku period.
Takeda Nobushige was a samurai of Japan's Sengoku period, and younger brother of Takeda Shingen. Takeda Nobushige held the favor of their father, and was meant to inherit the Takeda lands, wealth and power, becoming head of the clan. However, Shingen rebelled against their father and seized the lands and power for himself.
Uesugi Norimasa was a daimyō of feudal Japan, and held the post of Kantō Kanrei, the shōgun's deputy in the Kantō region. He was the adoptive father of Uesugi Kenshin, one of the most famous warlords in Japanese history.
The Takeda Clan was a Japanese clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan was known for their honorable actions under the rule of Takeda Shingen, one of the most famous rulers of the period.
The Battle of Sezawa was one of many battles fought by Takeda Shingen in his bid to take control of Shinano Province during the Sengoku Period of Japan.
The 1550 siege of Fukashi was one of a series of battles waged by Takeda Shingen in his long campaign to conquer Shinano province, which was ruled by a number of minor daimyō, notably the Suwa, Ogasawara, Murakami and Takato.
The 1546 siege of Uchiyama was one of many battles fought by Takeda Shingen bid to gain control of Shinano Province. His troops surrounded the fortress and starved out the garrison.
The 1547 Battle of Odaihara was one of a series of battles waged by Takeda Shingen in his long campaign to conquer Shinano province. In this particular encounter he was fighting the forces of Uesugi Norimasa, who was based in Echigo province but had decided to intervene in Shinano to prevent Shingen from overrunning the whole province. The Uesugi army attempted to relieve the castle of Shika, which Shingen had besieged, but were attacked and defeated at Odaihara on 19 September 1547.
The 1553 siege of Katsurao was one of many sieges undertaken by the warlord Takeda Shingen in his long campaign to gain control of Japan's Shinano province, which was ruled by a hodgepodge of minor daimyō, notably the Suwa, Ogasawara, Murakami and Takato.
Honjō Shigenaga was a Japanese Samurai who lived from the Azuchi–Momoyama period through to the Edo period. Shigenaga served the Uesugi clan and was known for his betrayal against them. He held the court title Echizen no kami.
Takatō Castle is a Japanese castle located in the city of Ina, southern Nagano Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Takatō Castle was home to a cadet branch of the Naitō clan, daimyō of Takatō Domain. The castle was also known as Kabuto Castle. Built sometime in the 16th century, it is now largely ruins.
The Siege of Katsurayama in March 1557 was fought between the forces of the Japanese daimyō Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin as part of the Kawanakajima campaigns. Katsurayama castle was a strategically vital Uesugi stronghold in the contested Shinano Province and, when it was isolated from reinforcements due to late snow in early 1557, the Takeda clan used this opportunity to attack it. Although the castle garrison, consisting of the Ochiai clan and elements of the Murakami clan, defended Katsurayama furiously, the Takeda forces under Baba Nobuharu eventually stormed into the castle. Most of the garrison was killed in combat, while the families of the defenders committed mass suicide and the castle was burned to the ground.