Siege of Osaka
Osaka Castle
| date | November 8, 1614 - January 22, 1615 and May - June 1615 |
|---|---|
| place | Osaka Castle ( Osaka , Japan ) and surroundings |
| Casus Belli | Toyotomi Hideyori was preparing a rebellion against the new Tokugawa shogunate ago |
| output | Tokugawa victory , last resistance to Tokugawa rule eliminated |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 164,000 (winter) 150,000 (summer) |
113,000 (winter) 60,000 (summer) |
The Siege of Osaka ( Japanese 大 坂 の 役 , Ōsaka no eki , generally 大 坂 の 陣 , Ōsaka no jin ) was a series of battles that the Tokugawa shogunate waged against the Toyotomi clan and which ended with the extermination of the clan . Divided into two phases (winter campaign and summer campaign) and lasting from 1614 to 1615 , the siege put an end to the last major armed resistance to the establishment of the shogunate. The conflict is sometimes referred to as Genna Embu ( 元 和 偃 武 , dt. About: "Genna war end"), because the name of the era was immediately changed from Keichō to Genna .
Beginning
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in 1598 , the reign of the Council of Five Regents began in Japan , in which Tokugawa Ieyasu had the greatest authority. After defeating Ishida Mitsunari at the Battle of Sekigahara , Tokugawa Ieyasu usurped power in Japan and abolished the council. In 1603 the Tokugawa Shogunate was established in the new capital Edo . Tokugawa Ieyasu sought to establish a powerful and stable regime under the rule of his own clan. The only obstacle on the way to this goal remained the Toyotomi under the leadership of Hideyoshi's son Toyotomi Hideyori , who had their headquarters in Osaka .
Winter campaign
In 1614 , the Toyotomi clan rebuilt Osaka Castle together with Hōkō-ji . In the course of this work, a bell was also installed. This bell bore the inscription: “ May the land be peaceful and happy; In the east it greets the pale moon and in the west it bids farewell to the setting sun. “The shogunate, which had its power base in the eastern provinces, took this as an insult and tension began to develop between the Tokugawa and Toyotomi clan. These tensions grew when Toyotomi Hideyori began rallying an army of Rōnin and enemies of the shogunate in Osaka . In November of that year, Tokugawa Ieyasu, although he had given the title of Shogun to his son in 1605 , still had great influence - and he decided not to tolerate further growth of this army. So he led 164,000 men to Osaka (this number does not include Shimazu Tadatsune's troops , as they did not arrive in Osaka).
The siege began on November 19 , when Ieyasu led three thousand men across the Kizu River and destroyed the fortress there. A week later, he attacked the village of Imafuku with 1,500 men. The defense force was 600 men strong. Thanks to the help of a troop equipped with arquebuses , the troops of the shogunate were able to post another victory. Numerous smaller forts and villages were attacked before the actual siege of Osaka Castle began on December 4th .
The Sanada-maru was a watchtower that was defended by Sanada Yukimura and 7,000 men for the Toyotomi. The Shogun's forces were repulsed repeatedly, and Sanada and his men carried out a series of attacks on the siege lines, breaking through three times. Ieyasu then resorted to artillery: he had three hundred cannons deployed, as well as men who were supposed to dig under the walls. On January 22nd, the winter siege was ended, with Toyotomi Hideyori pledging not to rise up in rebellion, and allowing the moat of Osaka Castle to be filled in.
Summer campaign
In April 1615, word reached Tokugawa Ieyasu that Toyotomi Hideyori was gathering even more troops than the previous November and that he was trying to stop the filling of the moat. Toyotomi troops (often referred to as the Western Army) began attacking units of the Shogun (Eastern Army) force near Osaka. On April 29, under the command of Ban Naoyuki , they raided Wakayama Castle , a coastal fortress owned by Asano Nagaakira , an ally of the Shogun. Asano's men stormed out of the castle, attacked the invaders, and beat them back. The Eastern Army had arrived in early June before Hideyori had managed to secure land to use against them. At the Battle of Dōmyōji on June 2 , 2,600 of his men met 23,000 men of the Eastern Army. Toyotomi Hideyori's commander in this battle, Gotō Mototsugu , tried to retreat into the fog - but the battle was lost and he was killed. Afterwards, units of the Tokuwaga intercepted those of the Toyotomi general Sanada Yukimura at Honta-Ryo. Sanada tried to force a battle with Date Masamune , but Date's henchman Katakura Shigenaga withdrew because his troops were exhausted. Sanada's forces followed suit.
That same night Chosokabe Morichika and Tōdō Takatora fought at Yao . Another battle took place at about the same time at Wakae between Kimura Shigenari and Ii Naotaka . Chosokabe's troops won a victory, but Kimura Shigenari was overrun by the left wing of Ii Naotaka's army. The bulk of the Tokugawa troops moved in support of Todo Takatora after Shigenari's death, and Chosokabe temporarily withdrew.
After another series of victories for the shogunate on the outskirts of Osaka, the summer campaign came to a climax at the Battle of Tennoji . Toyotomi Hideyori planned a hammer-and-anvil operation in which 55,000 men would attack the center of the Eastern Army while a second group of 16,500 men flanked them in the back. Another contingent was reserved as a reserve. Tokugawa Ieyasu's army was led by his son, Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada , and had a strength of about 155,000 men. She moved in four parallel lines and was prepared to perform flank maneuvers herself. Mistakes on both sides nearly ruined the battle when Toyotomi Hideyoris Rōnin split off from the main group and Tokugawa Hidetada's reserve force deployed without orders from the main force. In the end, Toyotomi Hideyori's commander, Sanada Yukimura, was killed, destroying the morale of the Western Army. The smaller force, under the direct command of Toyotomi Hideyori, fell out of Osaka Castle too late and was immediately driven back into the castle by the advancing enemies. There was no time to organize a defense of the castle - and so it was soon in flames and was covered by artillery fire. Hideyori committed seppuku , and the last major uprising against Tokugawa rule for the next 250 years came to an end.
End and aftermath
Toyotomi Hideyori's son Toyotomi Kunimatsu (he was eight years old at the time) was captured by the shogunate and beheaded in Kyoto . Toyotomi Hideyori's daughter (from a concubine ) Naahime was not sentenced to death. She later became a Tenshūni nun in Tōkei-ji Monastery in Kamakura . Toyotomi Hideyoshi's tomb was destroyed by the shogunate along with Kyōto's Tomokuri shrine . The Toyotomi clan was disbanded. Chosokabe Morichika was beheaded on May 11 , while his henchman Ono Harutane, wanted for more than ten years , was killed on June 27 .
The bakufu found 650,000 koku in Osaka and began rebuilding Osaka Castle. Osaka subsequently became a Han (fiefdom), which was given to Matsudaira Tadaaki . In 1619 this fiefdom was dissolved and in its place the Ōsaka Jōdai ( 大阪 城 代 ) was built, which was under the command of a Bugyō who served the shogunate directly. Osaka was - like many other larger Japanese cities - no longer part of a fiefdom under the control of a daimyo for the rest of the Edo period . Some daimyo, including Naitō Nobumasa and Mizuno Katsushige , moved to Osaka.
After the castle fell, the shogunate passed various laws, including the Ikkuni Ichijōrei (there can only be one castle in a province) and the Bukeshohatto (restricts each daimyō to only one castle). From this time on, permission from the shogunate had to be obtained before a castle was rebuilt or repaired. Many castles have been demolished to comply with the law.
swell
- Paul K. Davis: Defeated. 100 Great Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara CA et al. 2001, ISBN 1-57607-195-2 .
- 激 闘 大 坂 の 陣 - 最大 最後 の 戦 国 合 戦 . Gakken , 2000, ISBN 4-05-602236-4 .
- 戦 況 図 録 大 坂 の 陣 - 永 き 戦 乱 の 世 に 終止 符 を を 打 っ た 日本 史上 最大 規模 の 攻城 戦 . Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha, 2004, ISBN 4-404-03056-8 .
