The siege of Terabe Castle took place in 1558 in

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC whe ...

. Terabe Castle was a possession of the

Ogasawara clan The was a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Seiwa Genji.Papinot, Jacques. (2003)''Nobiliare du Japon'' – Ogasawara, pp. 44–45 Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon.'' (in Fren ...

Mikawa Province was an Provinces of Japan, old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari Province, O ...

. The Siege of Terabe Castle was Matsudaira Motoyasu's first battle, who would later change his name to

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 ...

History

The castle was built on the north shore of Mikawa Bay, in what is now called

Hazu The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under the patronage of the Croatian bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer under the name Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (, JAZU) since its ...

, in the city of Nishio,

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

. In 1558, Suzuki Shigeteru(or Suzuki Shigetatsu), lord of Terabe Castle, defected from the Imagawa in favor of an alliance 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 ...

. The Imagawa responded by sending an army under the command of Matsudaira Motoyasu, a young vassal of

Imagawa Yoshimoto was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the Sengoku period. Based in Suruga Province, he was known as ; he was one of the three ''daimyō'' that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He died in 1560 while marching to Kyoto to become Shogun. He ...

which would later be known as the

Shogun , officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, exc ...

. Terabe Castle was the first of a series of battles waged against the

Oda clan The is a Japanese samurai family who were daimyo and an important political force in the unification of Japan in the mid-16th century. Though they reached the peak of their power under Oda Nobunaga and fell soon after, several branches of the ...

. According to the records of ''Mikawa Monogatari'' written by

Ōkubo Tadachika , or also known as , was ''daimyō'' of Odawara Domain in Sagami Province in early Edo period, Japan. Ōkubo Tadachika was the son of Ōkubo Tadayo, a Fudai daimyō hereditary vassal to the Tokugawa clan in what is now part of the city of Okaza ...

and ''Tokugawa Jikki'' chronicle, Ieyasu implemented

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...

strategy in this battle where he stormed the castle parts of ''Ninomaru'' (officials living quarters of japanese castles), and ''Sannomaru'' (barracks building of japanese castles), then retreated before the enemy reinforcements from another castles came in. It was said the senior vassals of Ieyasu cried in joy during this battle as they witnessed Ieyasu personal bravery on the battlefield and comparing his feat with his grandfather,

Matsudaira Kiyoyasu was the 7th lord over the Matsudaira clan during the Sengoku period (16th century) of Japan. Kiyoyasu was the paternal grandfather of the third "great unifier of Japan", Tokugawa Ieyasu. Biography Kiyoyasu gained control of the whole of northe ...

. Ieyasu was said fought in close combat while riding his horse. Motoyasu's forces attacked Terabe Castle, but were driven off by reinforcements sent by Oda Nobunaga. Motoyasu then continued his campaign against other Oda clan possessions.

References

* 1558 in Japan Sieges of the Sengoku period Military history of Aichi Prefecture Attacks on castles in Japan Mikawa Province Nishio, Aichi Conflicts in 1558 {{Japan-battle-stub