The 1570 took place during

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 ...

's conflict with the

Asakura clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Asakura", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 3 DF 7 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5-4. ...

Echizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Echizen bordered on Kaga Province, Kaga, Wakasa Province, Wakasa, Hida Province, Hida, and Ōmi Provin ...

, which was allied with

Azai Nagamasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period known as the brother-in-law and enemy of Oda Nobunaga. Nagamasa was head of the Azai clan seated at Odani Castle in northern Ōmi Province and married Nobunaga's sister Oichi in 1564, fathering ...

Background

Asakura Yoshikage was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period (1467–1603) who ruled a part of Echizen Province in present-day Fukui Prefecture. He was a regent of Ashikaga Shogunate. Yoshikage's conflicts with Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) resulted in his de ...

, the head of the Asakura clan and regent to

Ashikaga Yoshiaki "Ashikaga Yoshiaki" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. was the 15th and final ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan who reigned from 1568 to 1573 when he ...

, refused Nobunaga's invitation to a court banquet in Kyoto. Nobunaga interpreted this as disloyalty to both the shogun and the emperor, prompting him to raise an army and march on Echizen. Several reports from ''Mikawa Monogatari'', ''Nobunaga Koki'', ''Tokugawa Jikki'', and a supplement from ''Ietada Nikki'' documented that Tokugawa Ieyasu and his forces also participated in this campaign. They captured Mount Tenzutsu castle on April 25, killing 1,370 enemies in the process.

Siege

The next day, Nobunaga's forces besieged Kanegasaki Castle, which was held by

Maeba Yoshitsugu was a samurai retainer beneath the clan of Asakura throughout the late Sengoku period of Feudal Japan. He was also known as Katsurada Nagatoshi (桂田長俊). He held the fortress of Kanegasaki in Siege of Kanegasaki (1570) against Oda Nobuna ...

. One of Nobunaga's chief generals, Kinoshita Tōkichirō (later Hashiba Hideyoshi then

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: ...

), led the attack, with

Sassa Narimasa was a Japanese samurai lord of the Sengoku through Azuchi–Momoyama periods. He entered Oda Nobunaga's service at the age of 14 and remained in his service throughout Nobunaga's rise to power. He was a member of the so-called Echizen Sannin ...

commanding a contingent of horse guards and firearms troops to support him. Meanwhile,

led an army to relieve Kanegasaki Castle. Realizing that he was surrounded by enemy forces, Nobunaga retreated from Kanegasaki. Ikeda Katsumasa led 3,000 soldiers to aid in his escape, while

Akechi Mitsuhide , first called Jūbei from his clan and later from his title, was a Japanese ''samurai'' general of the Sengoku period. Mitsuhide was originally a bodyguard of the last Ashikaga shogunate, Ashikaga ''shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later, one of ...

and Tōkichirō served as the rear guard. This marked Nagamasa's betrayal of the Oda clan. Nobunaga retreated without informing Ieyasu. After dawn, Ieyasu was guided by Kinoshita Tōkichirō to withdraw from the battle.

Aftermath

The fighting retreat at Kanegasaki enabled Oda Nobunaga to once again escape death. He later gathered an army that would secure victory against the Azai-Asakura forces at the

Battle of Anegawa The Sengoku period (30 July 1570) occurred near Lake Biwa in Ōmi Province, Japan, between the allied forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, against the combined forces of the Azai and Asakura clans. It is notable as the first battle t ...

. Kinoshita Tōkichirō's role in defending his lord during the retreat became one of his legendary achievements under Nobunaga.

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co. Sieges of the Sengoku period Military history of Fukui Prefecture 1570 in Japan Conflicts in 1570 Azai clan Echizen Province Tsuruga, Fukui Attacks on castles in Japan 16th-century military history of Japan {{japan-battle-stub

Background

Siege

Aftermath

See also

References