Battle of Sekigahara

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Battle of Sekigahara
Part of the Sengoku period
Edo-period screen depicting the battle
Date October 21, 1600 Location Sekigahara, Mino Province, present-day Gifu Prefecture, Japan 35°22′14″N 136°27′42″E / 35.3705°N 136.4616°E / 35.3705; 136.4616 Result Eastern army victory Beginning of Tokugawa shogunate Territorial changes Tokugawa clan gains nominal control of all Japan
Belligerents
Western Army: Forces loyal to Ishida Mitsunari, many clans from Western Japan	Eastern Army: Forces loyal to Tokugawa Ieyasu, clans of Eastern Japan
Commanders and leaders
Ishida Mitsunari  Ukita Hideie Ōtani Yoshitsugu † Shima Sakon † Chōsokabe Morichika Gamō Yorisato † Shimazu Yoshihiro Shimazu Toyohisa † Akashi Takenori Konishi Yukinaga  Toda Katsushige † Ankokuji Ekei  Mōri Hidemoto Natsuka Masaie † Hiratsuka Tamehiro † Defected: Kobayakawa Hideaki Kikkawa Hiroie Wakisaka Yasuharu Kutsuki Mototsuna Akaza Naoyasu Ogawa Suketada	Tokugawa Ieyasu:Overall commander Ii Naomasa: Supreme field commander[1] Fukushima Masanori Tōdō Takatora Hosokawa Tadaoki Ikeda Terumasa Oda Urakusai Matsudaira Tadayoshi Kuroda Nagamasa Takenaka Shigekado Honda Tadakatsu Furuta Shigekatsu Katō Yoshiaki Terazawa Hirotaka Ikoma Kazumasa Tsutsui Sadatsugu Horio Tadauji Kanamori Nagachika Asano Yoshinaga Yamauchi Katsutoyo Kyōgoku Takatomo
Strength
120,000 initially,[2] 81,890 by the time of battle[3]	75,000 initially,[2] 88,888 by the time of battle[3]
Casualties and losses
8,000–32,000[4] killed ~23,000 defected	4,000–10,000[5] killed
class=notpageimage| Location within Gifu Prefecture Show map of Gifu Prefecture Battle of Sekigahara (Japan) Show map of Japan

The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: 関ヶ原の戦い; Kyūjitai: 關ヶ原の戰い, Hepburn romanization: Sekigahara no Tatakai) was a historical battle in Japan which occured on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, Japan, at the end of the Sengoku period.

This battle was fought by the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu against a coalition of Ishida Mitsunari, several of which defected before or during the battle, leading to a Tokugawa victory. The Battle of Sekigahara was the largest battle of Japanese feudal history and is often regarded as the most important.

Mitsunari's defeat in the battle of Sekigahara is considered as the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate establishment, which ruled Japan for another two and a half centuries until 1868.^[6]

Background[edit]

The final years of Toyotomi Hideyoshi reign were turbulent. His heir, Toyotomi Hideyori, was only 5 years old at the time of Hideyoshi's death, causing a power vacuum in Japan.^[7][8]

Feuding factions[edit]

Katō Kiyomasa and other generals opposed against Mitsunari and Konishi Yukinaga. Tokugawa Ieyasu gathered both Kiyomasa and Masanori to his cause in a bid to challenge the opposition from Mitsunari, who claimed fighting for the cause of Toyotomi clan.^[9] At this moment, political tensions were high in the capital as rumors of assassination attempts towards Ieyasu floated, while a son of Maeda Toshiie, Toshinaga, was accused of being involved in the conspiracy and forced to submit to Ieyasu.^[9] Uesugi Kagekatsu, one of Hideyoshi's regents, stood against Ieyasu by building up his army, which Ieyasu officially questioned and demanded answers about Kagekatsu's suspicious activity to Kyoto. Naoe Kanetsugu, responded with a mocking letter towards Ieyasu's own violations of Hideyoshi's orders.^[10]

Mitsunari met with Ōtani Yoshitsugu, Mashita Nagamori and Ankokuji Ekei and conspired to raise anti-Tokugawa army. They then also appointed Mōri Terumoto to be the overall commander. They formed what came to be referred to as the Western Army. Mōri immediately marched and captured Osaka Castle, while the main army of Tokugawa were still on their way to suppress Kagekatsu.^[11]

At first, Mitsunari wanted to use Gifu Castle, which at that time were commanded by grandson of Oda Nobunaga, Oda Hidenobu, and Ōgaki Castle as choke points to impede the Eastern army advances.^[12] However, several developments of war forced him to abort the plan as:

• Gifu castle was captured by the Eastern army under Fukushima Masanori and Ii Naomasa before the main forces of Western army arrived,^[13][14][15] while a reinforcement for the castle was repulsed by Tanaka Yoshimasa.^[16]
• On September 13, Shimazu Yoshihiro's troops were beaten by Mizuno Katsunari in the battle outside Sone Castle,^[17][18][19] which followed by Katsunari burned the outer moat of Ōgaki Castle and forcing Shimazu Yoshihiro to retreat into Ise Province.^[20][a]
• Mitsunari realized that the Tokugawa army was heading towards Osaka castle.^[22]

As the Western Army failed to secure Gifu and Ōgaki castles as their strategic bases, and the Osaka castle being threatened, Mitsunari changed his plan and prepared his army for an open battle on the field of Sekigahara against the main body of Eastern Army led by Ieyasu.^[12] As preparation for the inevitable conflict, Ieyasu had also bought massive amounts of Tanegashima (gun) matchlock .^[22]

However, one day before the battle begin, in September 14, the Mōri clan of Western Army, through their vassal named Kikkawa Hiroie, colluding with the Eastern Army and promised the Mōri clan would change sides during battle, on the condition they would be pardoned after the war ended. The correspondencies between the Mōri clan with Eastern army involved Hiroie with Kuroda Yoshitaka and Kuroda Nagamasa as representatives of the Eastern Army.^[23]

The battle[edit]

At dawn on October 21, 1600, the Tokugawa advance guard stumbled into Ishida's army. Neither side saw each other because of the dense fog caused by the earlier rain. Both sides panicked and withdrew, but each was now aware of their adversary's presence.^[22] Mitsunari placed his position in defensive formation, while Ieyasu deployed his forces south of the Western Army position. Last-minute orders were issued and the battle began. Traditional opinion has stated the battle was started around 8:00 am.^[24] However, recent Japanese historians research estimates that the battle was actually started at 10:00 am.^[25][26]

The battle started when Ii Naomasa, who was heavily involved in the Battle of Gifu Castle before, immediately commanded his notable 3,600 crimson clad Ii no Akazoane (Ii's red devils) units to attack the center of the Western army.^[27][28] Meanwhile, Watanabe Daimon explained that by many indications of the battle records, the assignment of Naomasa as Ichiban-yari or the first unit to charge the enemy when the battle started, the armies may have been already settled before the battle. Masanori has agreed with Naomasa's intention to lead the first attack, since Daimon argued that Naomasa was appointed by Ieyasu as the supreme field commander, who was responsible for all commands and strategies during the clash in Sekigahara.^[b]

Naomasa charged onwards with 30 spearmen and clashed with the ranks of the Western army.^[29] Meanwhile, Fukushima Masanori charging forth from his position, followed the track of Naomasa and immediately engaged with Hideie troops.^[30]

At this point, the battle entered a deadlock. Ōta Gyūichi - who was present at the battle - wrote in his chronicle that "friends and foes are pushing each other" and "gunfire thunders while hails of arrows fly in the sky...".^[31][32] According to the records from Spanish accounts, There are 19 cannons from the De Liefde [nl], a Dutch trading ship that English sailor William Adams came to Japan on, was used by Tokugawa's army at this battle as well.^[33][34]

Western Army defectors[edit]

Sekigahara battle's painting on folding screen

Site of Matsudaira Tadayoshi and Ii Naomasa's Positions during the battle

During the battle of Sekigahara, there are several Western army who changes their sides. The most notable one was Kobayakawa Hideaki, one of the daimyō who had been courted by Tokugawa. There are two versions regarding the timeline of Hideaki's defection:

• The conventional theory regarding Hideaki's defection has stated that the defection occurred half-way of the battle. Although he had agreed to defect to the Tokugawa side beforehand, during the actual battle, Hideaki was allegedly hesitant and remained neutral, and is reported to have joined the battle only around noon as a member of the Eastern Army. Some later historical accounts claim that as the battle grew more intense, Ieyasu finally ordered his arquebuses to fire at Kobayakawa's position on Mount Matsuo to force a choice.^[35] This version were allegedly originated from an anecdote about Hideaki which surfaced from Edo period.^[25]
• Modern Japanese researchers of Sekigahara battle such as Jun Shiramine and Junji Mitsunare more leaned to the theory that Kobayakawa Hideaki already defected to the side of Tokugawa from the start of the battle, based on the correspondence documents between Hideaki and Kuroda Nagamasa before the battle, the disposition of Otani Yoshitsugu's army position which allegedly already aware of Hideaki's potential betrayal at the start of the battle,^[25] Stephen Turnbull also argued the sheer distance between the Eastern Army positions and Kobayakawa's, far out of range of arquebuses and likely too far for a shot to even be heard, make this very unlikely.^[35] and that the "story about Ieyasu ordering ‘cannon-shot’ into his ranks to push Hideaki defection was unverified and unreliable story."^[35] On the other hand, Yūichi Goza gave his explanation that the story about Ieyasu shooting his cannon to the location of Hideaki came from secondary sources that appeared in Edo period, so he assumed the story of Kobayakawa hesitation and dramatization of the event were embellishment from Pro-Tokugawa Shogunate historiography to depict the hard struggle of Ieyasu in Sekigahara.^[36]

Regardless of what actually transpired, in the end Kobayakawa forces has overwhelmed Yoshitsugu's position.^[24] At the same time, The troops of Yoshitsugu also engaged the troops of Tōdō Takatora and Oda Yūraku.^{[citation needed]}

Another defectors who followed suit with Hideaki step was Western Army daimyos Wakisaka Yasuharu, Ogawa Suketada, Akaza Naoyasu and Kutsuki Mototsuna who also change their sides during the battle, turning the tide of battle. these four commanders were recorded to establish contact with Tōdō Takatora, one of Eastern Army main commander, and being promised with secret deal. Their contact with Takatora occured several days before the battle.^[37]

Another Turncoat who changed their allegiance from the Western Army came from the Mōri clan. Mōri Terumoto and his forces had remained entrenched at Osaka Castle rather than join the battle, and later after the battle was over, Terumoto quietly surrender to Ieyasu. Professor Yoshiji Yamasaki of Toho University has concluded. If such a neutrality-for-territorial-preservation agreement existed, then it badly backfired on Mōri, as domains which were possessed by the Mōri clan were instead reduced afterward, and some Mōri faction troops did indeed fight for the Alliance's side at Sekigahara rather than stay neutral. Although this was not widespread among the Mōri clan, as Mōri Hidemoto was still genuinely trying to aid the Western Army, his efforts were sabotaged by a Mōri clan vassal named Kikkawa Hiroie, who refused to cooperate and, stating he was still eating, stationed his troops in front of Hidemoto, obstructing Hidemoto troops advancing to help Mitsunari. Furthermore, Hiroie also obstructed another Western Army contingent led by Chōsokabe Morichika from marching and attacking the Tokugawa forces.^[38]

Western Army collapsed[edit]

Watanabe Daimon stated that one of most notable cracks within the Western Army forces occured from Ukita Hideie's front. On this field, forces of Hideie began to wane and steadily overcame by the forces of Fukushima Masanori due to their difference of qualities.^[40] It was said that the reason of the difference between Ukita with Fukushima soldiers cohesion was due to the Ukita clan's riot before the war, which caused many senior samurai vassals of Ukita clan deserted their ranks and joined the Tokugawa faction.^[41] This prompted Ukita Hideie to enter the Sekigahara battlefield with fresh recruits of freelance Rōnin mercenaries to fill the gap left within his army. This proven fatal for them in long duration battle where their less disciplined mercenaries must fight against the more disciplined and trained regular army of Fukushima clan, as the Ukita clan ranks now began to broke their cohesion and finally collapsed under pressure despite their forces has outnumbered the forces of Fukushima Masanori themselves.^[40]

Meanwhile, Ōtani Yoshitsugu's forces retreated as Yoshitsugu committed suicide,^[42] leaving the Western Army's right flank wide open, which exploited by Masanori and Hideaki to roll the flank of Western Army. Mitsunari, who realized the situation was desperate, also commencing retreat to his troops.^[24] Meanwhile, a surviving Western army commander, Shima Sakon now suddenly fought the troops of Kuroda Nagamasa, who had taken a detour on the north to flank the Mitsunari and Sakon positions.^[43] In the end, Sakon was shot and fatally wounded by a round from an arquebus^[44]

Shimazu Yoshihiro found his troops completely surrounded by the troops of Honda Tadakatsu and Masanori from the front, while Hideaki troops struck his rear.^[45][46] The Shimazu clan only manage to get out of encirclement after huge casualties and only 200 soldiers under Yoshihiro left. However, the ordeal of Yoshihiro did not stop as Ii Naomasa chasing him tenaciously. only after Naomasa incapacitated by gun shot from a his riflemen the chasers stop pursuing them.^[47]

In the end, as the Western Army forces crumbled while no reinforcements came in, which further complicated by the massive amount of their army defections amid the clash, the battle was finally over.^[24] Historian Andō Yūichirō estimated by all account, this battle in Sekigahara was only taking place just about 4 hours duration, contrary to the Edo period portrayal that the battle goes from 8 pm until noon.^[26]

Late arrivals[edit]

The combined forces of Tokugawa Hidetada and Sakakibara Yasumasa, who brought huge as 38,000 soldiers of Eastern Army, has been bogged in the Siege of Ueda against Sanada Masayuki. ^[48]

Meanwhile, 15,000 soldiers of Western Army were being held up by 500 troops under Hosokawa Yūsai at Siege of Tanabe in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture.^[49] Some of those 15,000 troops respected Hosokawa. Due to these incidents, large numbers of soldiers from both Eastern and Western Army did not participate in Sekigahara.^[50]

Another Western Army continent which failed to reach the Sekigahara battlefield was a force led by Tachibana Muneshige, who has been stalled by Kyōgoku Takatsugu in the Siege of Ōtsu.^[51] As result, Muneshige forced to go into Osaka castle after he learned the main Western Army has been annihilated. However, as Mōri Terumoto decided to surrender to the Eastern Army, Muneshige take his army to return to his homeland in Kyushu.^[52]

Aftermath[edit]

Regarding the Ogaki castle which still under siege of Mizuno Katsunari during the Sekigahara battle, the garrison commander Akizuki Tanenaga immediately surrendered and opened the castle for Katsunari as soon as the news about the victory of Eastern Army reached him.^[53] In response, Katsunari immediately wrote a letter to Ii Naomasa to ask Ieyasu to give pardon for Tanenaga, which accepted by Ieyasu.^[54]

Practically speaking, the immediate effect of the Eastern Army victory in Sekigahara was the shift of authority to manage and distribute entire domains or land properties in Japan from the Toyotomi clan to Tokugawa Ieyasu.^[55] Ieyasu redistributed domains with worth of 6,8 millions koku,^[56] accordingly for many of his allies who assisted him to won the battle.^[57] the distribution were as following:^[58]

• Ikeda Terumasa got his domain increase from Mikawa Province, Yoshida region, into 520,000 Koku in Harima Province, Himeji region.^[59]
• Tōdō Takatora for new domain in Imabari, Ehime which assessed at total of 200,000 koku.^[60]
• Matsudaira Tadayoshi which previously had 100,000 koku in Musashi Province, Yuki region, got increase to 520,000 koku in Echizen Province, Fukui region
• Yūki Hideyasu which previously had 101,000 in Shimōsa Province, Shinobu region, got increase to 569,000 koku in Owari Province, Kiyosu region
• Gamō Hideyuki which previously had 180,000 in Shimotsuke Province, Utsunomiya region, to 600,000 koku in Mutsu Province, Aizu region
• Maeda Toshinaga which previously had 835,000 in Kaga Province, Kanazawa region, to 1,100,000 koku without moving his domain
• Katō Kiyomasa which previously had 195,000 in Higo Province, Kumamoto region, to 515,000 koku without moving his domain
• Kuroda Nagamasa which previously had 180,000 Buzen Province, Nakatsu region, to 523,000 koku in Chikuzen Province, Fukuoka region
• Fukushima Masanori had his 200,000 koku increased to 498,000 koku in the region of nowadays Aki District, Hiroshima
• Horio Tadauji had his domains increased to 240,000 koku in Matsue, Izumo.^[61]
• Ieyasu also promoted many of his Fudai daimyō (Tokugawa clan hereditary vassals) to at least 10,000 koku increase for each of their domains in various places in Japan.

Meanwhile, Kobayakawa Hideaki, who defected from Western Army side during the battle and contributed greatly to the victory, was given increase from his previous stipent into a domain which covered parts of Bizen Province and Mimasaka Province, with total fief revenue was worth of 520,000 koku.^[62] However, it was noted by historians that Ieyasu only gave very small domain increases for his own prime generals, the Shitennō (Tokugawa clan), which consisted of Ii Naomasa, Honda Tadakatsu, and Sakakibara Yasumasa, in comparisons for the likes of other daimyo lords who just entered Tokugawa ranks during this battle.^[63][59] Although it was argued that the relatively disproportionate rewards for them were due to their own decision to decline the offer for sharp increases for their domain rewards.^[64][65][66]

Regarding the losers of war, There are about 87 daimyo lords who has their domains confiscated and their power stripped due to their support for Mitsunari during the war.^[67] Meanwhile, the Chōsokabe clan, headed by Chōsokabe Morichika, was stripped of its title and domain of Tosa Province and given to Yamauchi Kazutoyo as recognition of Kazutoyo loyalty to the Tokugawa clan during the war.^[68] Former Chōsokabe retainers resisted this forceful takeover by the Tokugawa clan and Yamauchi clan. In response, Ii Naomasa sent military reinforcements to assist Kazutoyo in suppressing rebellion of Chōsokabe clan vassals in Tosa.^[69] Naomasa sent his vassal, Suzuki Hyōe, along with an army that carried by 8 ships to help Kazutoyo, who finally pacified the area in 5 weeks, after killing about 273 enemies.^[70][71]

Later in September 17, Ieyasu dispatched his army to attack Sawayama Castle in Ōmi Province, the territory which controlled by the clan of Ishida Mitsunari. During this operation, Ieyasu entrusted Kobayakawa Hideaki's troops at the vanguard. Most of the castle's troops were at the Battle of Sekigahara, leaving the castle's garrison with only 2,800 men to defend. Despite the absence of the lord of the castle, the castle's soldiers fought well, but eventually some soldiers such as Moritmo Hasegawa betrayed the castle and opened the castle for the besieging army. most of Mitsunari relatives, including his father Masatsugu, Masazumi, and Kagetsuin (Mitsunari's wife), were killed in battle or committed suicide.^[72][d]

Regarding the Shimazu clan, as Shimazu Yoshihiro was deemed guilty for his support for the Western Army, Ieyasu prepared a massive army to punish them with his son Hidetada as commander in chief, with the composition Eastern Army forces which active in the western provinces theater such as the armies of Katō Kiyomasa, Kuroda Yoshitaka, Nabeshima Naoshige and The Tachibana clan. However, the operation were aborted later after Shimazu Yoshihisa, the head of the clan, entered negotiation with Ieyasu. In the end, with the conclusion of the negotiations which undergoes until 1602, with the intercession from Kiyomasa, Yoshitada, and Tachibana Muneshige, the Shimazu clan were relieved from punishments, and even became the only Western Army clan which territories not deprived despite being the loser of war.^[75]

In November 6, Ishida Mitsunari, Konishi Yukinaga and Ankokuji Ekei was captured and then executed.^[76]

in 1603, Ieyasu officially appointed as shōgun by Emperor Go-Yōzei,^[77][76][7] this battle was perceived as the beginning of stability in the country of Japan. In 1664, Hayashi Gahō, Tokugawa historian and rector of Yushima Seidō, has wrote his elegy:

Evil-doers and bandits were vanquished and the entire realm submitted to Lord Ieyasu, praising the establishment of peace and extolling his martial virtue. That this glorious era that he founded may continue for ten thousands upon ten thousands of generations, coeval with heaven and earth.^[78]

In 1931, the location of Sekigahara battle now became Monuments of Japan. It marked the position of Ieyasu, Mitsunari, and Ōtani Yoshitsugu death location.^[79]

Statistics & chronology[edit]

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Below is the participants of the battle ○ = Main daimyōs who participated in the Battle of Sekigahara

● = Daimyōs who defected

	Daimyō	Kokudaka (ten thousands)		Daimyō	Kokudaka (ten thousands)
Western Army	Mōri Terumoto	121.0	Eastern Army	Tokugawa Ieyasu ○	256.0
	Uesugi Kagekatsu	120.0		Maeda Toshinaga	84.0
	Satake Yoshinobu	54.0		Date Masamune	58.0
	Shimazu Yoshihiro ○	73.0		Katō Kiyomasa	20.0
	Ukita Hideie ○	57.0		Fukushima Masanori ○	24.0
	Ishida Mitsunari ○	19.4		Hosokawa Tadaoki ○	18.0
	Konishi Yukinaga ○	20.0		Asano Yoshinaga ○	16.0
	Mashita Nagamori	20.0		Ikeda Terumasa ○	15.0
	Ogawa Suketada ●	7.0		Kuroda Nagamasa ○	18.0
	Ōtani Yoshitsugu ○	5.0		Katō Yoshiaki ○	10.0
	Wakisaka Yasuharu ●	3.0		Tanaka Yoshimasa ○	10.0
	Ankokuji Ekei ○	6.0		Tōdō Takatora ○	11.0
	Kobayakawa Hideaki ●	37.0		Mogami Yoshiaki	24.0
	Oda Hidenobu	13.5		Yamauchi Kazutoyo ○	6.0
	Chōsokabe Morichika ○	22.0		Hachisuka Yoshishige	17.7
	Kutsuki Mototsuna ●	2.0		Honda Tadakatsu ○	(10.0)
	Akaza Naoyasu ●	2.0		Terazawa Hirotaka ○	8.0
	Kikkawa Hiroie ●	(14.2)		Ikoma Kazumasa ○	15.0
	Natsuka Masaie ○	5.0		Ii Naomasa ○	(12.0)
	Mōri Hidemoto ○	(20.0)		Matsudaira Tadayoshi ○	13.0
	Toda Katsushige ○	1.0		Tsutsui Sadatsugu ○	20.0
	Sanada Masayuki	4.0		Kyōgoku Takatomo ○	10.0

Below is a chronology of the events leading up to the final battle of Sekigahara 1600:

• May 7 – Ieyasu asks Uesugi Kagekatsu for explanations for his military mobilization. Kagekatsu refuses Ieyasu.
• June 8 – Ieyasu calls his allies to punish the Uesugi.
• July 12 – Ieyasu holds a meeting in Osaka to plan the punishment of the Uesugi, attended by Hosokawa Tadaoki, Date Masamune, Mogami Yoshiaki, Satake Yoshinobu and Nanbu Toshinao.
• July 26 – Ieyasu leaves Fushimi Castle after meeting with Torii Mototada.
• August 16 – Mitsunari meets with Ōtani Yoshitsugu and convinces him to take sides against the Tokugawa.
• August 17 – Ishida Mitsunari, Ankokuji Ekei, Ōtani Yoshitsugu and Mashita Nagamori meet in Sawayama and agree to ask Mōri Terumoto to become commander in chief of the alliance. Nagamori secretly sends Ieyasu news about the meeting.
• August 19 – Siege of Tanabe, while Hosokawa Tadaoki was joining army to attack Uesugi, Mitsunari western army, Ikoma Chikamasa forces, attack Tanabe castle led by Onoki Shigekatsu against Hosokawa Fujitaka.
• August 22 – Mōri Terumoto arrives at Osaka Castle and takes command of the Western Alliance.
• August 23 - Battle of Gifu Castle begins, Oda Hidenobu of the western forces against Ikeda Terumasa, Ikeda Sen and Fukushima Masanori of the eastern forces.
• August 27 – Siege of Fushimi, led by Mitsunari and Kobayakawa Hideaki.
• August 29 – Ieyasu establishes his headquarters in Oyama, Shizuoka to discuss strategy with allies.
• August 30 – Battle of Asai, Maeda Toshinaga for the Eastern coalition, stems a force of Niwa Nagashige supported by Uesugi Kagekatsu.
• September 1 – Siege of Shiroishi, Uesugi Kagekatsu loses Shiroishi Castle to Date Masamune's pro-Tokugawa troops .
• September 6 - fall of Tanabe castle to the western army and Fujitaka entered Kameyama castle, the lord of which was Maeda Shigekatsu, western general, in Tanba.
• September 7 – Maeda Toshinaga (Tokugawa ally) attacks his brother, Toshimasa, and besieges Daishoji Castle. The commander of the garrison, Yamaguchi Munenaga, commits seppuku.
• September 8 – fall of Fushimi castle, Torii Mototada and Matsudaira Ietada dies.
• September 10 – Ieyasu returns to Edo Castle from Oyama.
• September 15 – Mitsunari's Western army arrives at Ogaki Castle.
• September 29 – Nabeshima Naoshige and other Western Army generals besiege Matsuoka Castle. The Army of the East occupies the heights of Akasaka, near Ogaki Castle.
• September 29 – Fall of Gifu Castle into the hands of the Eastern coalition. Tokugawa Hidetada heads towards Nakasendo.
• September 30 – Mōri Hidemoto lays siege to Annotsu Castle held by Tomita Nobutaka.
• October 1 – Mitsunari returns to Sawayama Castle from Ogaki, asking Terumoto to move. Terumoto was at Osaka Castle defending Toyotomi Hideyori.
• October 7 – Ieyasu leaves Edo at the head of 30,000 men towards Tokaido.
• October 9 – Hidetada reaches Komoro, Nagano and against the orders of his father, diverts his forces towards Ueda.
• October 12 – Ieyasu passes through Shimada in Suruga. Hidetada camps in Sometani village to besieged Ueda Castle against Sanada Masayuki.
• October 13 – Ieyasu passes through Nakaizumi in Tōtōmi. Mōri Hidemoto and Kikkawa Hiroie enters Mino and sets up camp near Mount Nangu. Mōri Hidekane, Tachibana Muneshige and Tsukushi Hirokado besiege Ōtsu Castle, held for Ieyasu by Kyōgoku Takatsugu.
• October 14 - Ieyasu receives a secret messenger from Kobayakawa Hideaki, who offers him support. Naoe Kanetsugu leads the Uesugi forces against Mogami Yoshiaki at the Siege of Hasedo.
• October 16 – Hidetada abandons the Siege of Ueda Castle and heads to Mino.
• October 19 – Ieyasu arrives at Gifu castle in Mino. Kuroda Yoshitaka defeats Ōtomo Yoshimune and other Mitsunari allied generals at the Battle of Ishigakibara.
• October 20 – Ieyasu moves to Akasaka. The two coalitions make contact at Kuisegawa, near Akasaka. The Eastern force retreats to Sekigahara. The Western coalition heads to Sekigahara from Ogaki Castle.
• October 21 – Battle of Sekigahara
• October - siege of Yanagawa is the last battle of the Kyūshū Sekigahara Campaign.
• October 30 – Date Masamune tries to conquer Fukushima Castle but retires. (In May 1601, during the Battle of Matsukawa, Masamune is repelled by Honjō Shigenaga)
• November 5 - Naoe Kanetsugu called a full withdrawal of all Uesugi forces, putting an end to Uesugi's campaigns in the north.

Cultural depictions[edit]

The Battle of Sekigahara has many depiction in modern time, Ryōtarō Shiba worked historical novel titled Sekigahara in the 1960s. James Clavell's worked on his 1975 novel, Shōgun, as historical-fiction depiction of the battle.^[80] Tokyo Broadcasting System aired a television miniseries about the subject in January 1981, also entitled Sekigahara [ja],

The 2000 video game Kessen is set during the conflict between the Tokugawa and Toyotomi clans, and features the Battle of Sekigahara.^[81] video game Nioh also portray events related with the Sekigahara battle.^[82]

Appendix[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Anthony J. Bryant (2013). Sekigahara 1600 The Final Struggle for Power. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472800718. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
• Bryant, Anthony (1995). Sekigahara 1600: The Final Struggle For Power. Osprey Campaign Series. Vol. 40. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-395-7.
• Constantine Nomikos Vaporis Ph.D. (2019). Samurai An Encyclopedia of Japan's Cultured Warriors. ISBN 9781440842719. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
• Davis, Paul (1999). "Sekigahara, 21 October 1600". 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514366-9.
• Morgan Pitelka (2016). "5: Severed Heads and Salvaged Swords: The Material Culture of War". Spectacular Accumulation: Material Culture, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Samurai Sociability. University of Hawai'i Press. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
• Stephen Turnbull (2011). Samurai The World of the Warrior. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781849089968. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
• Stephen Turnbull (2012). Tokugawa Ieyasu. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781849085755. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
• Wilson, William Scott (2004). The Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi. Tokyo: Kodansha International.

Paul Davis references[edit]

Paul Davis used the following sources to compile the chapter "Sekigahara, 21 October 1600" in 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present "Sekigahara, 21 October 1600."

• De Lange, William. Samurai Battles: The Long Road to Unification Groningen: Toyo Press, 2020
• Sadler, A.L. The Maker of Modern Japan: The Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu London: George Allen & Unwin, 1937
• Sansom, George. A History of Japan from 1334–1615 Stanford University Press, 1961
• Turnbull, Stephen. The Samurai: A Military History New York: Macmillan, 1977

External links[edit]

• SengokuDaimyo.com The website of samurai author and historian Anthony J. Bryant. Bryant is the author of the above-mentioned Sekigahara 1600: The Final Struggle for Power.
• Several strategy war games based on the battle: Sekigahara: Unification of Japan