Battle of Shijonawate

Battle of Shijonawate

Part of: Namboku-chō

Kusunoki Masatsura in the hail of arrows,
woodcut in color by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1857)

date	February 4, 1348
place	Hōjō, Kawachi Province
output	Victory of the north court

Parties to the conflict
North courtyard	Südhof
Commander
Kō no Moronao Kō no Moroyasu	Kusunoki Masatsura Kitabatake Chikafusa
Troop strength
60,000-80,000	3,000
losses
unknown	unknown

The Battle of Shijōnawate ( Japanese 四條 畷 の 戦 い , Shijōnawate no tatakai ) was a battle during the time of the Namboku-chō . It took place on February 4, 1348 ( historical : Shōhei 3 / Jōwa 4/1/5) at Hōjō in the province of Kawachi (today: Shijōnawate and Daitō ) in Japan .

The Army of the North Court under Ko no Moronao advanced against the temporary residence of the South Court in Yoshino . Kusunoki Masatsura , the military commander of the South Court, marched against the attackers with his army, as it was too weak to defend the residence. Kitabatake Chikafusa meanwhile led his troops in the direction of Izumi in order to divert some of the attackers from the residence. Kusunoki involved the enemy commander Kō no Moroyasu in a one-on-one battle and, according to tradition, was about to defeat it when he was struck by an arrow; Kusunoki then committed seppuku .

The battle ended with the victory of the North Court, but the South Court managed to escape Yoshino and had to leave few prisoners to the enemy.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stephen Turnbull: The Samurai, A Military History . MacMillan, London 1977, ISBN 0-02-620540-8 , pp. 103 .
2. ↑ George Sansom: A History of Japan, 1334-1615 . Stanford University Press, Stanford 1961, ISBN 0-8047-0525-9 , pp. 76 .
3. ↑ Stephen Turnbull: The Samurai Sourcebook . Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppan-kai, London 1998, ISBN 978-1-85409-523-7 , pp. 206, 208 .