The was a conflict of the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

fought between

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

and

Chōsokabe Motochika was a prominent ''daimyō'' in Japanese Sengoku period, Sengoku-period. He was the 21st chief of the Chōsokabe clan of Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture), the ruler of Shikoku, Shikoku region. Early life and rise He was the son and ...

on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

in 1585. Hideyoshi invaded Shikoku with a force of over 100,000 men in June and led a campaign against the

Chōsokabe clan , also known as , was a Japanese samurai kin group. Over time, they were known for serving the Hosokawa clan, then the Miyoshi clan and then the Ichijō clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géogra ...

force of 40,000 men for control over the island. Hideyoshi's army was successful and conquered most of Shikoku within two months, and defeated Chōsokabe when he surrendered

Ichinomiya Castle Ichinomiya Castle is a mountaintop castle in Tokushima, Japan. History Built in 1338, the castle was built on a strategically important site, with a river in front and on a mountain, both features giving it some protection as natural defenses. ...

in August.

Background

In the 1570s,

launched a campaign to personally unify Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands, and defeated a number of ''

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

'' rivals over the next decade. In 1580, Chōsokabe came into conflict with

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

after rejecting a request to submit to him. By 1583, Chōsokabe was the most powerful warlord on Shikoku and had conquered most of the island's four

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

of Iyo, Sanuki, Awa, and Tosa. That year, Chōsokabe had defeated Sengoku Hidehisa, a

retainer Retainer may refer to: * Retainer (orthodontics), devices for teeth * RFA Retainer (A329), RFA ''Retainer'' (A329), a ship * Retainers in early China, a social group in early China Employment * Retainer agreement, a contract in which an employer p ...

of Nobunaga's successor

, at the Battle of Hiketa. By this point, Hideyoshi had become the most powerful warlord in Japan following the death of Nobunaga the previous year. Hideyoshi's position was insecure and his efforts were occupied on consolidating his rule on

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

. In 1584, Hideyoshi won a political victory against

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

at the

Battle of Komaki and Nagakute The , also known as the Komaki Campaign (小牧の役 ''Komaki no Eki''), was a series of battles in 1584 between the forces of Hashiba Hideyoshi (who would become Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1586) and the forces of Oda Nobukatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu ...

, securing his position as paramount warlord. Hideyoshi began expanding his rule from outside his base in central Honshu and decided to invade Shikoku.

Invasion

In June, 1585, Hideyoshi amassed a giant army of 113,000 men to invade Shikoku and divided them into three forces. The first, under his half-brother

Toyotomi Hidenaga , formerly known as or . He was a half-brother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the most powerful and significant warlords of Japan's Sengoku period and regarded as 'Hideyoshi's brain and right-arm'. Life Hidenaga was also known by his court tit ...

and nephew

Toyotomi Hidetsugu was a during the Sengoku period of Japan. He was the nephew and retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the unifier and ruler of Japan from 1590 to 1598. Despite being Hideyoshi's closest adult, male relative, Hidetsugu was accused of atrocities and at ...

, consisted of 60,000 men, and assaulted the provinces of Awa and Tosa, approaching Shikoku via Akashi,

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...

. The second force was

Ukita Hideie was the ''daimyō'' of Bizen and Mimasaka Provinces (modern Okayama Prefecture), and one of the council of Five Elders appointed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Son of Ukita Naoie, he married Gōhime, a daughter of Maeda Toshiie. Having fought a ...

troops led by his uncle Ukita Tadaie, consisted of 23,000 men, and assaulted the province of Sanuki. The third force was led by Mōri "Two Rivers",

Kobayakawa Takakage was a samurai and daimyō (feudal military lord) during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the third son of Mōri Motonari who was adopted by the Kobayakawa clan and became its 14th clan head. He merged the two branches of ...

and

Kikkawa Motoharu was the second son of Mōri Motonari, and featured prominently in all the wars of the Mōri clan. He became an active commander of the Mōri army and he with his brother Kobayakawa Takakage became known as the “Mōri Ryōsen", or “Mōri's T ...

, consisted of 30,000 men, and advanced on the province of Iyo. In total, it took 600 larger ships and 103 smaller ships to transport Hideyoshi's army across the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

to Shikoku. Chōsokabe chose to fight to defend his territories with his force of 40,000 men, despite the overwhelming size of Hideyoshi's army and the suggestions of his advisors to submit. In June, Hideyoshi's army invaded Shikoku, winning a string of victories and securing many

castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This i ...

across the island over the next two months. By August, Hideyoshi's invasion culminated in the siege of

, with around 40,000 men under Hidenaga besieging the castle for 26 days. Hidenaga managed to destroy the water source of Ichinomiya Castle, and Chōsokabe half-heartedly tried to relieve the castle from siege, before Ichinomiya finally surrendered. With the surrender of the Ichinomiya castle, Chosokabe Motochika himself surrendered"Ichinomiya Castle" Japancastle http://www.japancastle.jp/2014/08/Ichinomiya-castle.html on the 11th day of the 7th month of Tenshō 13 (6 August 1585). Chosokabe was allowed to keep the province of Tosa, but the rest of the island was divided among Hideyoshi's generals.

Aftermath

Chōsokabe was allowed to keep Tosa Province but stripped of the three other provinces of Shikoku, which were then divided among Hideyoshi's generals. Awa was given to

Hachisuka Iemasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. Iemasa, the son of Hachisuka Masakatsu or ''Koroku'', was the founder of the Tokushima Domain. He was one of some daimyo who have bad terms with Ishida Mitsunari. His father was a retain ...

and Akamatsu Norifusa, Sanuki was given to Sengoku Hidehisa and

Sogō Masayasu was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period. He was second son of Miyoshi Yoshikata who was adopted by Sogō Kazumasa from the Sogō clan. In 1582, Masayasu was defeated by Chōsokabe Motochika`s large army during the battle of Nakatomigaw ...

, and Iyo was given to

and other Mōri generals. Chōsokabe submitted as a retainer and general of Hideyoshi, participating in the

Kyūshū campaign The Kyūshū campaign of 1586–1587 was part of the campaigns of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who sought to dominate Japan at the end of the Sengoku period. Having subjugated much of Honshū and Shikoku, Hideyoshi turned his attention to the south ...

and

Japanese invasions of Korea Japanese invasions of Korea may refer to: *Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) *Donghak Peasant Revolution ** Japanese occupation of Gyeongbokgung *Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fou ...

, and later became known for his involvement in the San Felipe incident.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shikoku 1585 Sieges of the Sengoku period 1585 in Japan Conflicts in 1585 Invasions Chōsokabe clan History of the Shikoku region Awa Province (Tokushima) Iyo Province Sanuki Province Tosa Province Attacks on castles in Japan Military history of Kōchi Prefecture Military history of Tokushima Prefecture Military history of Ehime Prefecture Military history of Kagawa Prefecture Campaigns of the Sengoku period