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The
battle of Okehazama
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| 441 years ago, it was the era of
battles in Japan. There were many feudal lords who aimed
to rule Japan. The Hojo family controlled the Kanto
area (now around Tokyo), the Uesugi family ruled Echigo
(around Niigata), the Takeda family in Kai
(around Yamanashi), the Imagawa family in Totomi
and Mikawa (around Shizuoka and Aichi),
and the Oda family in Owari (around Nagoya).
These lords had a great ambition to expand their own land
and to get greater power. |
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| On May 12, 1560, Imagawa
Yoshimoto left Sunpu (Shizuoka) with
25,000 soldiers to go to Kyoto (the capital at
that time). |
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| On May 17, they arrived
at the Kutsukake Castle which was near Okehazama
(in Toyoake). |
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| On the other hand, Oda
Nobunaga left the Kiyosu Castle early in the
morning on May 19. He left his castle with only 200
soldiers. On the way to Okehazama (the
battlefield) he dropped into the Atsuta Shrine to
pray for victory. The number of soldiers had increased to
around 1,000 at that time. When they reached Okehazama
at noon, no less than 3,000 soldiers followed Nobunaga.
On that day, Yoshimoto and his men took a rest and
ate lunch at Okehazama. While Yoshimoto
listened to reports of the battle situation, it suddenly
began to shower, causing confusion among Yoshimoto’s troops. Nobunaga
was very lucky, for because of this shower, his troops
were able to easily attack and defeat Yoshimoto’s force. Hattori Koheita,
one of Nobunaga’s men, pierced Yoshimoto
with a spear, and Mori Shinsuke, also one of Nobunaga’s men, killed Yoshimoto.
It took Nobunaga only 2 hours to get the victory. |
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| 2,500 men of Yoshimoto’s and 830 men of Nobunaga’s were killed in this
battle. |
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| This Okehazama
Battle became an epoch-making event in the history of
Japan. By this victory, Nobunaga established the
base of Japan’s
unification. Thereafter, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa
Ieyasu succeeded him, and with Ieyasu, started
the 300-year-long Tokugawa Shogunate. |
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| Okehazama
Kosenjo |
From
here Nobunaga unified the Mainland!
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You can reach this
ancient battlefield by getting off the Chukyo Keibajo
Mae Station on the Meitetsu (Nagoya) line. The
battlefield is located 200m south of the station, across
from Route 1. |
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Oda Nobunaga defeated the larger force of Imagawa
Yoshimoto near here, which was the first step of unifying the
Mainland for Nobunaga. Kosenjo
was the center of this battle. |
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This battlefield, Okehazama
Kosenjo, was designated as a national historical site
by the Ministry of Education on Dec. 21, 1937. The Shichikokuhyo,
or Seven Granite Pillars, which are 15-18cm
across, 12cm high and 30cm under the ground, are located
in this battlefield. These pillars mark the tombs of
seven of Yoshimoto's warlords. The first pillar
says,"Imagawa Yoshimoto was killed
here." There are also some other funeral tombstones,
on one of which the summary of this battle is written.
This area has been converted into a park. |
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Location: |
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Minamiyakata, Sakae-cho, Toyoake City
(Designated
as a national historical site in 1937) |
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Kutsukakejoshi
(Site of Kutsukake
Castle) |
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Imagawa Yoshimoto Imagawa
stayed here on the night before the Okehazama
Battle, and had his last military meeting here . . . |
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Kondo Munemitsu,
the first lord of Kutsukake Castle, had lived in
this castle in the 14th century. |
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It is not known when the castle
was built and when it was destroyed. Only its site
remains. |
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Imagawa Yoshimoto
stayed here on the night before the famous Okehazama
Battle, not knowing his destiny - he was killed in this battle.
After Yoshimoto's death, Oda Nobunaga
attacked and captured the castle.
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Location:
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3 Higashi Hongo,
Kutsukake-cho, Toyoake City
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| Senninzuka |
| The
final resting place for the soldiers |
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During Okehazama
Battle more than 2,500 of Imagawa's soldiers
were killed. They were buried here by a local Buddhist
priest Kaioh Ryuki II of Sogenji Temple. |
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This graveyard which had been
called Surugazuka in the past, is located on a
small hill about 150m north of Route 1. |
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This place has a
gravestone (21cm x 130cm) located in the center of it. |
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Location: |
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1733 Senninzuka,
Zengo-cho, Toyoake City
(Designated
as a national historical site in 1937) |
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