Siege of Edo

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Siege of Edo
partof=the Sengoku period


caption=Fushimi tower of Edo castle (now the Imperial Palace)
date=January 1524
place=Edo castle, modern-day Tokyo
result=Hōjō victory
combatant1=Hōjō Clan
combatant2=Uesugi Clan
commander1=Hōjō Ujitsuna
commander2=Uesugi Tomooki
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=

In the 1524 Siege of Edo, also known as the Battle of Takanawahara, the Hōjō, led by Hōjō Ujitsuna, besieged Edo castle, which was held by Uesugi Tomooki. Though Edo has since become the Japanese metropolis of Tokyo, it was then a more or less insignificant fishing village in the Kantō region.

Eager to repel the attackers, Uesugi Tomooki led his warriors out of the castle to meet the Hōjō in battle at the Takanawa river crossing. However, Ujitsuna led his men around the Uesugi force and attacked them from the rear. Retreating back to his castle, Tomooki found that the commander of his garrison, Ōta Suketaka, had betrayed him and opened the gates to the Hōjō.

This battle would mark the beginning of a seventeen-year struggle between the Hōjō and Uesugi clans for dominance of the Kantō.

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (2002). 'War in Japan: 1467-1615'. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.