Siege of Musashi-Matsuyama (1563)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Siege of Musashi-Matsuyama
partof=the Sengoku period


caption=
date=1563
place=Matsuyama Castle, Musashi province
result=Siege successful; castle falls to the Hōjō and Takeda
combatant1=Uesugi clan castle garrison
combatant2=Combined Hōjō-Takeda clan forces
commander1=Uesugi Norikatsu
commander2=Hōjō Ujiyasu, Takeda Shingen
strength1=10,000
strength2=24,000
casualties1=
casualties2=

In Japanese history, the 1563 siege of Musashi-Matsuyama was a successful attempt by a combined Takeda clan-Hōjō clan army to regain Musashi-Matsuyama castle from the Uesugi clan; the Hōjō had seized the castle from the Uesugi in 1537, but lost it in 1563, and so sought to regain control of it once more.

Musashi-Matsuyama, situated in Japan's Musashi province (today Saitama prefecture), is so called simply to distinguish it from the other locations known as Matsuyama Castle throughout Japan. Retaken by the Uesugi, who held it originally before the Hōjō siege twenty-six years earlier, it came under siege from the Hōjō and Takeda very soon after it was regained. The besieging army, under the command of Takeda Shingen and Hōjō Ujiyasu, employed a team of miners to dig under the castle's defenses, allowing the greater portion of their force easier access to their target.

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.