Battle of Sekigahara

Battle of Sekigahara

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Sekigahara
partof=the Sengoku period


caption=Edo period screen depicting the battle.
date=October 21, 1600
place=Sekigahara, present-day Gifu Prefecture
territory=Tokugawa gains nominal control of all Japan
result= Decisive Tokugawa victory; beginning of Tokugawa shogunate
combatant1=Forces loyal to Toyotomi Hideyori, many clans from Western Japan
combatant2=Forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Clans of Eastern Japan
commander1=Ishida Mitsunari, Mōri Terumoto, others
commander2=Tokugawa Ieyasu, others
strength1= 81,890Fact|date=February 2007
strength2= 88,888Fact|date=February 2007
casualties1=5,000-32,000 dead
Otani Yoshitsugu
Shimazu Toyohisa
casualties2=Unknown; but not excessive

The nihongo|Battle of Sekigahara|Shinjitai: 関ヶ原の戦い; Kyūjitai: 關ヶ原の戰ひ|Sekigahara no Tatakai, popularly known as the nihongo|Realm Divide|天下分け目の戦い|Tenka Wakeme no Tatakai, was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 ("Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month") which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though it would take three more years for Ieyasu to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyo, Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa bakufu, the last shogunate to control Japan.

Background and pretext

Even though Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan and consolidated his power following the Siege of Odawara in 1590, his ill-fated invasion of Korea significantly weakened the Toyotomi clan's power as well as the loyalists and bureaucrats that continued to serve and support the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi's death. Hideyoshi's and his brother Hidenaga's presence kept the two sides from anything more than quarreling, but when both of them died, the conflicts were exacerbated and developed into open hostilities. Since the Toyotomi clan was known to be descended from peasant stock, neither Hideyoshi nor his heir Hideyori would be recognized or accepted as Shogun. Most notably, Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori were publicly critical of the bureaucrats, especially Ishida Mitsunari and Konishi Yukinaga. Tokugawa Ieyasu took advantage of this situation, and recruited them, redirecting the animosity to weaken the Toyotomi clan.

Beginning

Tokugawa Ieyasu was no longer rivaled in terms of seniority, rank, reputation and overall influence within the Toyotomi clan after the death of Regent Maeda Toshiie. Rumors started to spread stating that Ieyasu, at that point the only surviving ally of Oda Nobunaga, would take over Hideyoshi's legacy just as Nobunaga's was taken. This was especially evident amongst the loyalist bureaucrats, who suspected Ieyasu of agitating unrest amongst Toyotomi's former vassals.

Later, a supposed conspiracy to assassinate Ieyasu surfaced, and many Toyotomi loyalists, including Toshiie's son, Toshinaga, were accused of taking part and forced to submit to Ieyasu's authority. However, Uesugi Kagekatsu, one of Hideyoshi's appointed regents, defied Ieyasu by building up his military. When Ieyasu officially condemned him and demanded that he come to Kyoto to explain himself before the emperor, Kagekatsu's chief advisor, Naoe Kanetsugu responded with a counter-condemnation that mocked Ieyasu's abuses and violations of Hideyoshi's rules, in such a way that Ieyasu was infuriated.

Afterwards, Ieyasu summoned the help of various supporters and led them northward to attack the Uesugi clan, which at that moment were besieging Hasedō, but Ishida Mitsunari, grasping the opportunity, rose up in response and created an alliance to challenge Ieyasu's supporters, also seizing various daimyo as hostages in Osaka Castle. Ieyasu then left some forces led by Date Masamune to keep the Uesugi in check and marched west to confront the western forces. A few daimyo, most notably Sanada Masayuki, left Ieyasu's alliance, although most, either bearing grudges against Mitsunari or being loyal to Ieyasu, stayed with him.

The battle

Mitsunari, in his home Sawayama Castle, met with Otani Yoshitsugu, Mashita Nagamori, and Ankokuji Ekei. Here, they forged the alliance, and invited Mori Terumoto, who actually did not take part in the battle, to be its head.

Mitsunari then officially declared war on Ieyasu and lay siege to the Fushimi Castle, garrisoned by Tokugawa retainer Torii Mototada on July 19. Afterwards, the western forces captured various Tokugawa outposts in the Kansai region and within a month, the western forces had moved into the Mino Province, where Sekigahara was located.

Back in Edo, Ieyasu received news of the situation in Kansai and decided to deploy his forces. He had some former Toyotomi daimyo engage with the western forces while he split his troops and marched west on the Tōkaidō towards Osaka Castle. Ieyasu's son Hidetada led another group through Nakasendō. However, Hidetada's forces were bogged down as he attempted to besiege Sanada Masayuki's Ueda Castle. Even though the Tokugawa forces numbered some 38,000, an overwhelming advantage over the Sanada's mere 2,000, they were still unable to capture the strategist's well-defended position. At the same time, 15,000 Toyotomi troops were being held up by 500 troops under Hosokawa Fujitaka at Tanabe Castle in Wakayama Prefecture. Some among the 15,000 troops respected Hosokawa so much they intentionally slowed their pace down. Both these incidents resulted in a large number of Tokugawa and Toyotomi troops not to show up in time at the battlefield of Sekigahara.

Knowing that Ieyasu was heading toward Osaka, Mitsunari decided to abandon his positions and marched to Sekigahara. On September 15, 1600 ("Keichō 5, 8th day of the 8th month"), the two sides started to deploy their forces. Ieyasu's eastern army had 88,888 men, whilst Mitsunari's western army numbered 81,890. There were about 20,000 arquebusers and other forms of hand-held gunners deployed in the battlefield, corresponding to over 10% of all troops present.

Fall of the western army

Even though the western forces had tremendous tactical advantages, Ieyasu had already contacted many daimyo on the western side, promising them land and leniency after the battle should they switch sides. This led some western commanders holding key positions to hesitate when pressed to send in reinforcements or join the battle that was already in progress.

Mori Hidemoto and Kobayakawa Hideaki were two such daimyo. They were in such positions that if they decided to close in on the eastern forces, they would in fact have Ieyasu surrounded on three sides. Hidemoto, shaken by Ieyasu's promises, also persuaded Kikkawa Hiroie not to take part in the battle.

Even though Kobayakawa had responded to Ieyasu's call, he remained hesitant and neutral. As the battle grew more intense, Ieyasu finally ordered arquebusiers to fire at Kobayakawa's position on Mount Matsuo. At that point Kobayakawa joined the battle on the eastern side. His forces assaulted Yoshitsugu's position, which quickly fell apart as he was already engaging Todo Takatora's forces. Seeing this as an act of treachery, western generals such as Wakisaka Yasuharu, Ogawa Suketada, Akaza Naoyasu, and Kutsuki Mototsuna immediately switched sides, turning the tide of battle.

The western forces disintegrated afterwards, and the commanders scattered and fled. Some, like Ukita Hideie managed to escape, while others, like Sakon was shot and wounded by a rifle though it's unknown if he died from it, Otani Yoshitsugu committed suicide. Mitsunari, Yukinaga and Ekei were some of those who were captured and a few, like Mori Terumto and Shimazu Yoshihiro were able to return to their home provinces. Mitsunari himself would be decapitated.

Rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate

Tokugawa Ieyasu redistributed the lands and fiefs of the participants, generally rewarding those who assisted him and displacing, punishing, or exiling those who fought against him. In doing so, he gained control of many former Toyotomi territories. Following the public execution of Ishida Mitsunari, Konishi Yukinaga and Ankokuji Ekei, the influence and reputation of the Toyotomi clan and its remaining loyalists drastically decreased.

From the Toyotomi clan's point of view though, the battle was technically only an internal conflict between Toyotomi vassals.

This view was challenged however because Ieyasu was later made Shogun, a position that had been left vacant since the fall of the Ashikaga shogunate 27 years earlier. In 1664, Tokugawa historian and Yushima Seido rector Hayashi Gahō, writing in 1664, summarized the consequences of the battle: "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." [Hoffman, Michael. [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20060910x2.html "A man in the soul of Japan"] , "Japan Times" (Tokyo). September 10, 2006.]

This change in official rankings also reversed the subordinate position of the Tokugawa clan, thus making the Toyotomi clan subordinates of the Tokugawa instead. In any case, Ieyasu did not gain any casus belli to take action against the frail Toyotomi clan; rather, it would take more political maneuvers for Ieyasu to destroy Hideyori once and for all.

eeds of Dissent

While most clans were content with their new status, there were many clans, especially those on the western side, who became bitter about their displacement or what they saw as a dishonorable defeat or punishment. Three clans in particular did not take the aftermath of Sekigahara lightly:

*The Mōri clan, headed by Mori Terumoto, remained angry toward the Tokugawa shogunate for being displaced from their fief, Aki, and being relocated to the Chōshū Domain, even though the clan did not take part in the battle at all.

*The Shimazu clan, headed by Shimazu Yoshihiro, blamed the defeat on its poor intelligence-gathering, and while they were not displaced from their home province of Satsuma, they did not become completely loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate either. Taking advantage of its large distance between Edo and the island of Kyushu as well as its improved espionage, the Shimazu clan demonstrated that it was virtually an autonomous kingdom independent from the Tokugawa shogunate during its last days.

*The Chosokabe clan, headed by Chosokabe Motochika, was stripped of its title and domain of Tosa and sent into exile. Former Chosokabe retainers never quite came to terms with the new ruling family, the Yamauchi clan, which made a distinction between its own retainers and former Chosokabe retainers, giving them lesser status as well as discriminating treatment. This class distinction continued even generations after the fall of the Chosokabe clan.

The descendants of these three clans would in two centuries collaborate to bring down the Tokugawa shogunate, leading to the Meiji Restoration.

Miyamoto Musashi

*According to tradition, the legendary kensei Miyamoto Musashi was present at the battle among the ranks of Ukita Hideie's army. Supposedly, he fought well and escaped the defeat of Hideie's forces unharmed. Whether this is fact or myth is unknown; Musashi would have been around 16 years of age at the time.

Appearances in popular culture

*This battle is the main fighting scene in the film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453396/ Sengoku jieitai 1549 (2005)] . The film also reveals some of the main characters and political situation, which is a little perverted by the film plot.
*This battle figures prominently in the manga and anime series "Samurai Deeper Kyo".
*The battle appears in the video games Kessen and Samurai Warriors 2 for the Playstation 2. Both games feature many what-if scenarios, some of which turns the tide of the battle resulting in victory for the Western army.
*The battle will also be featured in as part of the Japanese campaign.
*This battle appears in as one of the historical battles for the PC.
*In Azumi, the Battle of Sekigahara is a major plot element.
* James Clavell's best-selling novel "Shogun" depicts the events leading up to this climactic battle, although the battle itself is only referred to in a short two-paragraph postscript.
*The 1998 mini-series "Musashi" begins with a young Miyamoto Musashi emerging from beneath numerous corpses in the aftermath of Sekigahara. The Japanese manga "Vagabond" also begins with a similar scene.
*In the 1954 film "SAMURAI I:" by director Hiroshi Inagaki the beginning of the film involves the great battle of Sekigahara, and Miyamoto Musashi is portrayed by legendary actor Toshiro Mifune.
*The battle is also featured in the Shogun episode of the BBC 2 series Heroes and Villains.
*This battle begins Eiji Yoshikawa's epic novel "Mushashi"

Notes

References

* Bryant, Anthony J. (1995). [http://books.google.com/books?id=UzhzhxfmncsC&dq=sekigahara&client=firefox-a&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "Sekigahara 1600: The Final Struggle For Power." Oxford: [Osprey Publishing] . 10-ISBN 1-855-32395-8; 13-ISBN 978-1-855-32395-7

External links

* [http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/ 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.
* A strategy war game based on the battle: [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/25021 Sekigahara: Unification of Japan]


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