Siege of Odawara (1590)

Toyotomi victory in the Sengoku period

For other battles of the same name, see Siege of Odawara.

Third Siege of Odawara

Part of the Sengoku period

Later Hōjō era’s Odawara Castle
| Date| May – August 4, 1590

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Location|

Odawara Castle, Sagami Province, Japan

35°15′03″N 139°09′13″E﻿ / ﻿35.2508°N 139.1536°E﻿ / 35.2508; 139.1536
Result|  Siege succeeds; Toyotomi victory
Belligerents
Toyotomi clan|  Later Hōjō clan
Commanders and leaders
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Oda Nobukatsu
Maeda Toshiie
Uesugi Kagekatsu
Honda Tadakatsu
Sakai Ietsugu
Kobayakawa Takakage
Ikoma Chikamasa
Horio Yoshiharu
Gamō Ujisato
Sanada Masayuki
Sanada Yukimura
Ukita Hideie
Hosokawa Tadaoki
Kuroda Kanbei
Ii Naomasa
Hori Hidemasa
Mogami Yoshiaki
Shimazu Toyohisa
Hattori Hanzo|  Hōjō Ujimasa †
Hōjō Ujiteru †
Hōjō Ujikuni
Hōjō Ujinao
Hōjō Ujitada
Hōjō Ujimitsu
Hōjō Ujitaka
Chiba Naoshige
Matsuda Norihide
Narita Ujinaga
Daidōji Masashige
Fūma Kotarō
Strength
Army of the Tōkaidō: 170,000
Army of the Tōsandō: 35,000
Navy: 10,000–20,630
220,000 total|  82,000 total

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Location within Kanagawa Prefecture

Show map of Kanagawa Prefecture

Siege of Odawara (1590) (Japan)

Show map of Japan

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* t
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Campaigns of Toyotomi Hideyoshi

* Inabayama
* Anegawa
* Kanegasaki
* Odani Castle
* Kōzuki Castle
* Tedorigawa
* Itami
* Miki
* Tottori
* Takamatsu
* Yamazaki
* Uchidehama
* Shizugatake
* Komaki and Nagakute
* Kaganoi
* Takehana
* Kanie
* Toyama
* Negoro-ji
* Ōta Castle
* Shikoku & Ichinomiya
* Kyūshū
* Hachigata
* Odawara
* Shimoda
* Oshi
* Oshu
* Kunohe
* Korea

* v
* t
* e

Campaigns of Tokugawa Ieyasu

* Terabe
* Marune
* Okehazama
* Azukizaka
* Kakegawa
* Kanegasaki
* Anegawa
* Futamata
* Mikatagahara
* Takatenjin
* Yoshida
* Nagashino
* Temmokuzan
* Takatō
* Tenshō-Jingo
* Komaki and Nagakute
* Kanie
* Ueda
* Odawara
* Kunohe
* Sekigahara
* Osaka

* v
* t
* e

Campaigns of the Mōri clan

* Arita-Nakaide
* Koriyama
* Toda
* Oshikibata
* Miyajima
* Shiraga
* Gassan-Toda
* Moji
* Torisaka
* Tachibana
* Tatarahama
* Nunobeyama
* Kizugawaguchi
* Kōzuki
* Tottori
* Takamatsu
* Shikoku & Ichinomiya
* Kyūshū
* Odawara
* Shimoda
* Korea
* Sekigahara
* Osaka
* Shimonoseki
* First Chōshū
* Second Chōshū

* v
* t
* e

Campaigns of the Chōsokabe clan

* Tonomoto
* Okayama
* Shimantogawa
* Mimaomote
* Nakatomigawa
* Hiketa
* Shikoku & Ichinomiya
* Toshimitsu
* Kyūshū
* Odawara
* Shimoda
* Korea
* Sekigahara
* Osaka

* v
* t
* e

Campaigns of the Shimazu clan

* Ichirai
* Momotsugi
* Kōriyama
* Kajiki
* Iwatsurugi
* Oguchi
* Kizaki
* Takabaru
* Mimigawa
* Minamata
* Okitanawate
* Iwaya
* Kyūshū
* Odawara
* Korea
* Sekigahara
* Ryūkyū
* Kagoshima

* v
* t
* e

Campaigns of the Hōjō clan

* Arai
* Edo
* Nashinokidaira
* Kamakura
* Ozawahara
* Musashi-Matsuyama 1537
* Kawagoe (1537)
* Kōnodai 1538
* Kawagoe (1545)
* Suruga-Sagami
* Odawara 1561
* Musashi-Matsuyama 1563
* Kōnodai 1564
* Hachigata 1568
* Odawara 1569
* Mimasetoge
* Kanbara
* Nirayama
* Fukazawa
* Omosu
* Kanagawa
* Tenshō-Jingo
* Hachigata 1590
* Odawara 1590
* Shimoda
* Oshi

The third Siege of Odawara (小田原征伐, Odawara seibatsu) occurred in 1590, and was the primary action in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign to eliminate the Hōjō clan as a threat to his power. The months leading up to it saw hasty but major improvements in the defense of the castle, as Hideyoshi's intentions became clear. Thus, despite the overwhelming force brought to bear by Hideyoshi, the siege saw little actual fighting.

## Background

[edit]

In 1588, Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeded in re-unifying the nation, after several campaigns following the death of Oda Nobunaga in 1582. Hideyoshi asked Hōjō Ujimasa and Ujinao (father and son), to attend the imperial visit to Jurakudai (Hideyoshi's residence and office in Kyoto), but Ujimasa refused. However, Ujimasa proposed to reschedule the visit to spring or summer of 1590, but Hideyoshi in turn refused the proposal, which worsened their relationship. In May 1590, Hideyoshi launched the Odawara Campaign against Hōjō.

Ujimasa held a faint hope that Date Masamune would come to offer support, and if the battle reached a stalemate, Tokugawa Ieyasu would defect to his side.[1]

## Siege

[edit]

The massive army of Toyotomi Hideyoshi surrounded the castle in what has been called "the most unconventional siege lines in samurai history." The samurai were entertained by everything from concubines, prostitutes, and musicians to acrobats, fire-eaters, and jugglers. The defenders slept on the ramparts with their arquebuses and armor; despite their smaller numbers, they discouraged Hideyoshi from attacking. So, for the most part, this siege consisted of traditional starvation tactics. Only a few small skirmishes erupted around the castle, as when a group of miners from Kai Province dug under the castle walls, allowing men under Ii Naomasa to enter.[2] After three months, the sudden appearance of Ishigakiyama Ichiya Castle took away the Hōjō defenders' will to resist and they surrendered.[3]

In addition to taking Odawara Castle, Hideyoshi also defeated the Hōjō at their outposts, led by Maeda Toshiie and Uesugi Kagekatsu this army captured the Hōjō strongholds one-by-one: Matsuida Castle, Minowa Castle, Maebashi Castle, Matsuyama Castle and Hachigata castle before finally arriving at Hachiōji Castle, and Shizuoka in and near the southwestern part of the Kantō region. Included Shimoda fortress at Ise Province led by Chosokabe Motochika, where Hideyoshi's naval forces defeated the Izu suigun.

The Chiba clan, allies of the Hōjō in Shimōsa, also saw Sakura Castle fall to Honda Tadakatsu and Sakai Ietsugu of the Tokugawa army during the campaign. Chiba Shigetane, daimyō of the Chiba, surrendered the castle to the besieging forces on the condition that his clan would not be abolished. While the Chiba were consequently divested of all of their holdings, many of their senior members were taken into service by Tokugawa retainer Ii Naomasa, thanks to aid he had received many years earlier from the clan during the occupation of Takeda Katsuyori's Tsutsujigasaki Castle.[4]

However, at Siege of Oshi castle led by Ishida Mitsunari, the defenders surrendered after hearing word that their lord had been defeated at Odawara.

## Aftermath

[edit]

Hōjō Ujimasa failed to hold Odawara against the forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and finally Odawara was taken. Later, Ujimasa was forced to commit suicide along with his brother Ujiteru.[5]

Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Hideyoshi's top generals, was given the Hōjō lands. Though Hideyoshi could not have guessed it at the time, this would turn out to be a great stepping-stone towards Tokugawa's attempts at conquest and the office of shogun.

The tea master Yamanoue Sōji was at the service of the Odawara lords. He was sentenced to death by torture.

## In popular culture

[edit]

The siege of Odawara is the climax of Hideyoshi's story in the video game Samurai Warriors 2. Due to the sheer size of Odawara Castle in the game, it is divided into two stages, the eastern side besieged by the Tokugawa, Chōsokabe (in Xtreme Legends only), Shimazu, and Date armies, and the western side besieged by the Toyotomi main army.

In the Sengoku Basara Season 2 anime, Odawara Castle was the setting for the fight between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Date Masamune. Hideyoshi was killed in the castle at Masamune's hands. Afterward, Ishida Mitsunari went to the castle to grieve his master's demise.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "北条氏だけでも、5万6000余の軍勢を動員できたとみられています。これに、伊達政宗や徳川家康が加われば、秀吉に対抗することは十分に可能だったことでしょう。". shirobito. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
2. ^ Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. London: Cassell & Co. p. 241\. ISBN 9781854095237.
3. ^ "石垣山一夜城歴史公園" (in Japanese). 小田原観光. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
4. ^ Chiba-ki, Takayama Kiyotaka
5. ^ "Hojo Ujimasa". kotobank. Retrieved 18 October 2021.

* Sansom, George (1961). A History of Japan: 1334–1615. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
* Takayama, Kiyotaka (1893). Chiba-ki (千葉記). Tokyo: Keizai Zasshisha.

## External links

[edit]

* About Siege of Odawara, Odawara city official

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