Battle of Yamazaki

Battle of Yamazaki

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Yamazaki
partof=the Sengoku period


caption=
date=1582
place=Yamazaki, Japan
casus=Hideyoshi seeks revenge for his lord's murder.
territory=
result=Toyotomi Hideyoshi victorious; begins his consolidation of power
combatant1=forces of Akechi Mitsuhide
combatant2=forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
commander1=Akechi Mitsuhide
commander2=Oda Nobutaka
strength1=16,000
strength2=36,500
casualties1=
casualties2=

The nihongo|Battle of Yamazaki|山崎の戦い|Yamazaki no tatakai was fought in 1582 in Yamazaki, Japan, located in current day Kyoto Prefecture. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Tennozan.

Akechi Mitsuhide, a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, attacked Nobunaga as he rested in Honnō-ji, and forced him to commit "seppuku". Mitsuhide then took over Nobunaga's power and authority.Thirteen days later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi met Mitsuhide at Yamazaki and defeated him, avenging his lord (Nobunaga) and taking Nobunaga's authority and power for himself.

Preparations for Battle

When Nobunaga died, Hideyoshi was busy fighting against the Mōri clan. It is told that after betraying and defeating Nobunaga at Honnō-ji, Mitsuhide sent a letter to the Mōri. The letter contained a request for an alliance to crush Hideyoshi, but unluckily for Mitsuhide, the letter's messenger was captured by Hideyoshi's forces and the plot was revealed.Upon hearing the news that Nobunaga had been killed, and that Akechi Mitsuhide had taken command of his possessions, Toyotomi Hideyoshi immediately negotiated a peace treaty with the Mōri, remaining careful to keep Nobunaga's death a secret. Once the treaty was secured, he then led his troops on a forced march towards Kyoto, averaging 30 to 40km a day.

Akechi Mitsuhide controlled two castles (Shōryūji and Yodo) in the Yamazaki region. Due to his lack of men for the impending battle with Hideyoshi, he attempted to win the hearts of the people in that region in order to gain more troops. However, his appeals to Hosokawa Fujitaka were fruitless, and so he was unable to add significant strength to his forces.

Less than two weeks after Mitsuhide's betrayal, Hideyoshi's army finally arrived and attacked Mitsuhide's inferior forces at Yamazaki. Learning of the size of Hideyoshi's army and not wanting to be caught inside a castle with his force divided, Mitsuhide resolved to prepare for battle somewhere to the south. Due to its position being between a river and a mountain, Yamazaki provided Mitsuhide with choke points that could ease the number of enemies his forces would have to face at any one time.

Meanwhile, Hideyoshi decided that a wooded area called Tennōzan, just outside the town of Yamazaki, was key to strategic control of the road to Kyoto. He sent a detachment under Nakagawa Kiyohide to secure this area, while he led the majority of the army to Yamazaki himself. His forces took over the mountain and gained a significant advantage.

Mitsuhide arranged his army behind a small river (the Enmyōji-gawa), which provided an excellent defensive position. That night, Hideyoshi's men sent a number of "ninja" into the Mitsuhide camp, setting fire to buildings and generally causing fear and confusion.

The battle

On the following morning, the main fighting began as Hideyoshi's men began to form up along the opposite shore of the Enmyōji-gawa from the enemy, and a portion of Mitsuhide's men crossed the river, seeking to make their way up the wooded Tennōzan hill. They were driven back by arquebus fire, and so Hideyoshi felt confident enough to launch the right wing of his forces across the river, and into Mitsuhide's front lines. They made some progress, and were soon joined by the left wing, with support from atop Tennōzan. The majority of Mitsuhide's men fled, with the exception of the 200 men under Mimaki Kaneaki, who charged and were destroyed by Hideyoshi's larger force.

Soon, panic set in among the Mitsuhide army, and Hideyoshi's army chased them back to Shōryūji. Mitsuhide himself fled much further, to the town of Ogurusu, where he was captured by bandits and killed. It is said that he was killed by a peasant wielding a bamboo spear.

Hideyoshi used this victory as a stepping-stone to gain control over Nobunaga's former territories and eventually all of Japan.

In popular culture

The Battle of Yamazaki is the final stage of Akechi Mitsuhide and the first stage of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Samurai Warriors 2.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Yamazaki — (山崎, 山嵜, 山咲, etc.; the first being the most common) can refer to several Japanese people, places and characters. The same characters are for some purposes pronounced Yamasaki.Real people* Yamazaki (family) * Yamazaki Ansai, philosopher * Erina… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Uchidehama — Infobox Military Conflict conflict=Battle of Uchidehama partof=the Sengoku period caption= date=1582 place=Uchidehama, near Ōtsu, outside Kyoto, Japan casus= territory= result=Toyotomi Hideyoshi victory combatant1=forces of Akechi Mitsuhide… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Komaki and Nagakute — Part of the Sengoku period Date 1584 Location Owari Province, Japan …   Wikipedia

  • Yamazaki Susumu — nihongo|Yamazaki Susumu|山崎烝|(1833? February 6, 1868) was a Shinsengumi officer and spy ( Kansatsu ).He was a ronin from Osaka and an expert in Katori Ryu . In 1863, he officially joined the Shinsengumi and in 1864, Yamazaki and Shimada Kai were… …   Wikipedia

  • Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Volume 1 — Fatal Fury Fatal Fury, Garou Densetsu au Japon, est une série de jeux de combat en 2D développée par SNK sur Neo Geo AES et borne d arcade et adapté sur différents supports. La sortie du premier épisode en 1991, quelques mois après celle de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Volume 2 — Fatal Fury Fatal Fury, Garou Densetsu au Japon, est une série de jeux de combat en 2D développée par SNK sur Neo Geo AES et borne d arcade et adapté sur différents supports. La sortie du premier épisode en 1991, quelques mois après celle de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Linna Yamazaki — (山崎 リンナ Yamazaki Rinna ) is a fictional character from the Japanese anime series Bubblegum Crisis, its spin off Bubblegum Crash and its TV remake Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040. Her original OVA voice actress was Tomizawa Michie. Her english voice… …   Wikipedia

  • Order of battle of the Attack on Pearl Harbor — This is the attack on Pearl Harbor s order of battle for both the Empire of Japan and the United States. Contents 1 Imperial Japanese Navy 2 United States Navy 3 References …   Wikipedia

  • Attack on Pearl Harbor order of battle — This is the Empire of Japan s attack on Pearl Harbor order of battle.Imperial Japanese NavyNaval General Staff Admiral Osami Nagano*Combined Fleet **Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto *First Air Fleet **Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo *1st Carrier Division… …   Wikipedia

  • People of the Sengoku period in popular culture — Many significant Japanese historical people of the Sengoku period appear in works of popular culture such as anime, manga, and video games. This article presents information on references to historical people in such works.Akechi Mitsuhide Akechi …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”