Osaka no Eki (大坂の役)

Osaka no Eki (Siege of Osaka) refers collectively to Osaka Fuyu no Jin (Winter Siege of Osaka) and Osaka Natsu no Jin (Summer Siege of Osaka[ended on June 4 or May 8 in the old calendar]), battles in which the Edo bakufu destroyed the Toyotomi clan (1614 - 1615). Generally it is often called, "Osaka no Jin".

Beginning
After the death of Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, Ieyasu TOKUGAWA, one of the Gotairo (Council of Five Elders), strengthened his power in the Toyotomi administration, and at the Battle of Sekigahara in which a former member of the Gobugyo (five major magistrates) Mitsunari ISHIDA and others uprose in 1600, he commanded the Eastern Army and rebuffed Mitsunari's Western Army. Ieyasu TOKUGAWA, by playing an important role in postwar processing, deciding postwar grants of honors and so on, seized real powers. On that occasion he punished the Toyotomi family by reducing their directly-controlled land; Toyotomi family's territory was limited to Settsu Province/ Kawachi Province/Izumi Province only with about 650,000-Koku (unit) level.

On March 24, 1603, Ieyasu assumed the post of Seiitaishougun (Barbarian Subduing Generalissimo) in Fushimi-jo Castle, established the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) and started to strengthen his political power by performing construction projects including Edo Castle. Ieyasu's political goal was assumed to establish a long-term and firm government led by the Tokugawa clan, therefore, he was said to have begun to think how he could make the Toyotomi Family, which kept a lord-like position to the Tokugawa Family and an exceptional existence in the hierarchy of the bakufu, obey the Tokugawa clan or punish them if they would not obey him.

Senhime, a daughter of Hideyori TOYOTOMI, married Hideyori TOYOTOMI according to Hideyoshi's will in July (the old calendar) of the same year.

On New Year's Day of 1605 Ieyasu visited Kyoto, followed by by Hidetada in February (the old calendar) with a large force of an estimated about 100,000 and 160,000 retainers including daimyo (Japanese feudal lords) in Ou such as Masamune DATE. Ieyasu resigned from the shogunate and gave it to Hidetada. It meant that the Toyotomi Family no longer ruled Japan, but the Tokugawa Family did, however, Hideyori also steadily kept rising in official court rank to be Udaijin (minister of the right), while Hidetada was Naidaijin (minister of the center) when he became Shogun. When Ieyasu was appointed Shogun, hearsay that Hideyori would be appointed Kanpaku at the same time was taken without any feelings of wrongness: therefore, Ieyasu could not ignore Hideyori, who might be appointed Kanpaku (chancellor) as Hideyoshi's child before his coming to age.

On May 8 (the old calendar), Ieyasu took friendly means such as asking Yodo-dono, Hideyori's real mother, through Kodai-in to tell Hideyori to swear vassal fealty to him. Yodo-dono then refused the meeting, which made their relationship bad, but Ieyasu sent Tadateru MATSUDAIRA to Osaka for reconciliation.

In March (the old calendar), 1611 when Emperor Gomizunoo succeeded Emperor Goyozei, Ieyasu visited Kyoto and demanded a meeting with Hideyori at Nijo-jo Castle. Although some objected to Ieyasu's demand, the meeting was realized through mediation of daimyo that had been favored by the Toyotomi Family including Kiyomasa KATO, Yoshinaga ASANO and others. In April of the next month (the old calendar), Ieyasu gathered in Nijo-jo Castle 22 daimyo (Japanese feudal lord) staying in Kyoto and made them submit written vows that they would not disobey orders from the bakufu. Similar vows were taken from 65 daimyo in Tohoku/Kanto regions the next year, in 1612. However, he did not force Hideyori to submit the vow.

It seemed that the tension between the both had been eased by the meeting. However, when Nagamasa ASANO and Yoshiharu HORIO and Kiyomasa KATO died in 1611, and Terumasa IKEDA andYoshinaga ASANO in 1618, and Toshinaga MAEDA in 1619, the isolation of the Toyotomi Family became stronger and partly from the impatience the Toyotomi Family began to reveal a policy of confrontation to the bakufu such as receiving official ranks from the Imperial Court without permissions from the bakufu, gathering army provisions and ronin (masterless samurai), in addition, trying to enter into the friendly relations with Maeda clan and so on.

The Tokugawa family that chose a policy of reconciliation toward Toyotomi clan, but at the same time did not hesitate to prepare for war, ordered Kunitomo kaji (smithy in Kunitomo) to produce either odeppo (Japanese artilleries)/ozutsu (Japanese artilleries) as weapons for attacking a castle, and to cast ishibiya (Japanese artilleries) and ordered bronze artilleries/gunpowder/lead (materials of cannonballs) from England and Holland. Ieyasu also felt anguish about how he could solve an ethical problem of destroying the Toyotomi family, his master family, asking Razan HAYASHI about right and wrong of To-O (Tang Wang)/Bu-O (Wu Wang) (Zhou Dynasty China) Hobatsu-ron (a theory in ancient China about expelling a disqualified prince).

In such a situation Incident of Hoko-ji Temple Bell decisively deepend the confrontation between the Tokugawa/Toyotomi families (for details, see Incident of Hoko-ji Temple Bell). In August (the old calendar), 1614 the Toyotomi family dispatched Katsumoto KATAGIRI to Sunpu for the explanation of a matter of the shomei (inscription on a bell) of Hoko-ji Temple Bell, but Ieyasu did not meet him. However, shortly afterward Ieyasu politely met the mother of Harunaga ONO, Okurakyo-no-tsubone, who was dispatched to Sunpu. On September 6 (the old calendar) Ieyasu concluded that the distrust of the Toyotomi Family to the Tokugawa Family was a factor of such a problem, then sent Suden and Masazumi HONDA as envoys to the Toyotomi family, and at the meeting in company with Okurakyo-no-tsubone and Katsumoto, demanded that Toyotomi should discuss a measure for conciliation for the both families and come to Edo to account for the measure. On the same day Ieyasu made fifty daimyo in Saigoku (western Japan) submit written vows.

Katsumoto returned to Osaka and offered the following three compromise proposals as a private plan on September 20 (the old calendar):

Hideyori shall go up to Edo for sankin-kotai (an alternate-year attendance)
Yodo-dono shall stay in Edo as a hostage. Hideoyori shall accept Kunigae (transference from one fief to another) and leave Osaka-jo Castle. The Toyotomi Family, hearing this proposal, took this demand as a proclamation of war, because Osaka-jo Castle had been their castle since Hideyoshi. They decided to banish pacifists including Katsumoto and Sadataka KATAGIRI and began to prepare for war.

On October 1 (the old calendar) Katsumoto KATAGIRI and Sadataka left Osaka Castle. In tandem Hideyori's valets, Nobukatsu ODA and Sadamasa ISHIKAWA also left the castle. On the same day, Ieyasu proclaimed attack on Osaka-jo Castle among all daimyo.

Ieyasu's Tenkabushin

The next year of the Battle of Sekigahara, Ieyasu TOKUGAWA carried out so-called Tenkabushin (Construction Order by the Tokugawa Shogunate: he ordered all daimyo to participate in construction projects including the construction of Zeze-jo Castle in 1601 as a starter, followed by the rebuilding and construction of Fushimi-jo Castle/Nijo-jo Castle/ Hikone-jo Castle/Sasayama-jo Castle/Kameyama-jo Castle (Tanba Province)/Nagoya-jo Castle and the great renovation of Edo-jo Castle/Sunpu-jo Castle/Himeji-jo Castle/Ueno-jo Castle. The Tenkabushin aimed not only to put daimyo in financial difficulties to lower the resistance power of daimyo to the bakufu, but also helped encircle the Toyotomi clan and give pressure to Saigoku daimyo. The bakufu offered a certain amount of expenses to daimyo who were ordered to do the fushin (Tenkabushin), however, the expenses impoverished daimyo; for example, the Saga clan had to reduce its retainers' horoku (salary) by 30% across-the-board.
In the case of fushin (construction) of Nagoya-jo Castle, the Toyotomi family was ordered to be mobilized, however because of the rejection of Yodo-dono the order was canceled

Building of Temples and Shrines by Hideyori

Hideyori TOYOTOMI/Yodo-dono built or repaired temples and shrines mainly in Kinai region as memorial services for Hideyoshi after his death. The major of them came up to 85 in number including Kondo hall of To-ji Temple/Enryaku-ji Temple Yokawa Chudo/ Atsuta Jingu Shrine/ Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine/Kitano Temmangu Shrine/Kurama Temple/Bishamon-do Temple and so on. In 1608 Ieyasu recommended them to reconstruct Hoko-ji Temple Daibutsu-den Hall (which was built by Hideyoshi, but collapsed in 1596).

Some assumed that due to such a large expenditure of money on construction, gold and silver that Hideyoshi left in Osaka Castle would run out, but the fact was not so. Although the Toyotomi family spent a lot of money in Osaka no Eki, the bakufu confiscated 28,000 gold coins (about 280,000 ryo) and about 24,000 silver coins (about 240,000 ryo) after the surrender of Osaka Castle.

Hoko-ji Temple Bell Incident

The Hoko-ji Temple Daibutsu-den Hall in Kyoto that the Toyotomi family had been rebuilding since 1609 was almost completed in 1614, and a bonsho (temple bell) was completed in April in 1614 (the old calendar). Katsumoto KATAGIRI, Sobugyo (Grand Magistrate)asked Buen Seikan in Nanzen-ji Temple to select an inscription for the bonsho.

Katsumoto successively reported the selection of the inscription, the doshi (master priest) of the ceremony to consecrate the Great Buddha, the date and time of the ceremony and so on, however, on July 29 (the old calendar) when the framework was nearly completed, Ieyasu postponed the ceremony, saying through Masazumi HONDA that there were ill-omend phrases in the bonsho inscription. Ieyasu had priest in the Gozan (Zen temples highly ranked by the government) (Konchiin Suden and others) and Razan HAYASH decipher the inscription on the bell. Suden and others concluded that two phrases in the inscription included curses on the Tokugawa Family; One was the phrase "国家安康 (State's Peace)" which severed the imina (real personal name) of Ieyasu (家康), and the other "君臣豊楽 (State's Peace and Health) which prayed for the prosperity of the Toyotomi (豊臣) Family. Razan HAYASHI also interpreted the phrase "右僕射源朝臣家康 (Ubokuya [Tang name for mister of the right] Minamoto no Ason Ieyasu)" as shooting (射る-iru) Ieyasu (家康).

This incident has been generally regarded as an incident that Ieyasu, Suden and others plotted and made an issue to find an excuse for attacking the Toyotomi family. However, Seikan himself expressed an apology that the inscription was selected intentionally because it included a phrase with Ieyasu's imina hidden in it, and each priest in the Gozan reported that it was a problem that Seikan did not avoid Ieyasu's imina.

Therefore, the incident was not essentially the one that the Ieyasu side used the phrases in the inscription for the full excuse for attacking the Toyotomi's side, but took advantage of the thoughtlessness of the Toyotomi side.

Osaka Fuyu no Jin (Winter Siege of Osaka)

Preparation of the Toyotomi Side
On October 2 (the old calendar), 1614, the Toyotomi family began to prepare for war, sending out circulars to daimyo and ronin who had been favored by the Toyotomi family. On the same day they not only purchased army provisions, but also requisitioned kuramai (rice preserved in a depository by Edo Shogunate and domains) from Kurayashiki-warehouses of the Tokugawa Family and other Daimyo. Using a great amount of gold and silver, they employed many ronin across Japan, however, no daimyo hastened to Osaka Castle to join them, and Masanori FUKUSHIMA alone connived at the requisition of army provisions from Kurayashiki-warehouses. They also purchased weapons for holding the Castle, repaired the sogamae (outer citadel) and constructed towers.

The total number of soldiers including employed ronin was about 100,000 people and among them there were well-known ronin including Nobushige SANADA (Yukimura), Morichika CHOSOKABE, Mototsugu GOTO (Matabe), Katsunaga MORI, Takenori AKASHI (they were called gonin shu), Naoyuki BAN, Yoshiharu Otani and others. Some of them were eager to revenge the Tokugawa family, some aimed to make their names in the world, taking advantage of the disturbances of war and so on: there were many brave warriors who had experienced many battles and were high in morale, however, only a jumble of warriors lacked regulations, causing strategic confusions in real battles.

The inside of the Toyotomi's army had split up in two groups. One was a group of people centering on Harunaga ONO, a shukuro (chief vassal of a samurai family) insisting rojo (staying in a castle to fight enemies). Their policy was staying in Osaka-jo Castle surrounded by double moats plus huge sobori (moats around a castle town) and fortified firmly, exhausting the Tokugawa army and gaining favorable pacification. In contrast, Nobushige SANADA, one of the ronin shu, asserted a two-stage strategy that they should bring down Kinai region under control, then move troops to Yodo River in Omi Province, fight the Tokugawa Army coming from Kanto region and while the Tokugawa army were hung up they should win a number of daimyo over to their side, and if that was impossible, they should stay in the castle and fight them. Mototsugu GOTO/Katsunaga MORI, basing their strategy on Sanada's, also insisted that they should send troops to Iga Province and the north-west region of Otsu City to stop the enemies from advancing; however, after all, the strategy of Harunaga ONO and other Toyotomi retainers was adopted, that they should build strongholds around the castle (in order to secure a guard/communication line), stay in the impregnable Osaka Castle.

In the same month the Toyotomi side is said to have tried to break the bank of Yodogawa River to make Osaka region down in water and make Osaka-jo Castle a floating castle. However, it was prevented by Tadamasa HONDA, Masashige INABA and others of the bakufu only to give a little trouble to their advances.

Departure of the Army of the Bakufu
Ieyasu led troops and left Sunpu on October 11 (the old calendar). Masazumi HONDA wrote that Ieyasu looked unusually younger when he decided to open this war. He entered Nijo-jo Castle on 23rd (the old calendar), and on the same day Hidetada left Edo, leading troops of 60,000 men. On 25th (the old calendar) Ieyasu called Takatora TODO/Katsumoto KATAGIRI and ordered them to lead the van.

The mass of large forces of bakufu soldiers in Osaka reaching about 200,000 in number brought forth not a few confusions. However, Masanori FUKUSHIMA, Nagamasa KURODA and others were ordered to stay in Edo-jo Castle. It is said that the bakufu was afraid that people who have been favored by the Toyotomi family would betray the bakufu, however, it would not apply to Nagamasa KURODA, who contributed to the victory of the Eastern Army at the Battle of Sekigahara. However, children of the daimyo forced to stay in Edo Castle joined the war.

Ieyasu left Nijo-jo Castle for Osaka by way of Nara on November 15 (the old calendar). On 18th (the old calendar), Ieyasu held war councils with Hidetada, who had arrived before, in the Mt. Chausu-yama camp.

Beginning of War
On November 19 (the old calendar), 1614, a combat began in the fort of Kizugawa-guchi (the Battle of Kizugawaguchi, 1614). The battle was followed by furious battles in Kamono/Imafuku on November 26 (the old calendar) (Battle of Kamono/Battle of Imafuku), and in Bakurobuchi, Noda/Fukushima on November 29 (the old calendar) (Battle of Bakurobuch, Battle of Noda/Fukushima). The Toyotomi's army, having lost several forts, abandoned the rest of the forts and withdrew to Osaka-jo Castle on November 30 (the old calendar).

Siege Warfare
The Tokugawa side completely besieged Osaka-jo Castle where the Toyotomi side held up, with an army of about 200,000 soldiers. On December 2 (the old calendar) Ieyasu inspected the Chausu-yama camp, followed by the camp of each general's and ordered them to construct shiyori (faculities for attacking a castle). From 4th on, each troop, building siyori such as taketaba (bamboo shields against firearms)/trenches/miniature hills and so on, approached up to 10 to 5.6 cho (1 cho = about 109 meters) to Osaka-jo Castle. Prior to that, Ieyasu had distributed iron shields manufactured in the furnaces in Hoko-ji Temple that he had ordered on October 22 (the old calendar).

When they were approaching the Toyotomi army, the Tokugawa army was defeated and a number of their troops were damaged badly in the Battle of Sanada-maru (December 3 and 4 [the old calendar]), the greatest battle in besieging Osaka Castle, which was triggered by the provocation of the Toyotomi side. Hidetada, arriving at Okayama on 4th of the same day, and knowing that Ieyasu was thinking of pacification, advised Ieyasu to make an all-out attack, however, Ieyasu rejected it, telling him not to take the enemies lightly, but to think of winning without fighting. On 5th Ieyasu moved the headquarters from Sumiyoshi to Mt. Chausu-yama and ordered troops that had arrived by 8th to construct shiyori (the old calendar).

From 9th on, Ieyasu made a full-scale attack on Osaka Castle. On the same day Nagara Bridge, which Ieyasu orderd Tadamasa INA/, Tadakatsu FUKUSHIMA/Hidenari MORI/Soan SUMIKURA to build in order to switch the flow of Yodo River to Amagasaki City, was completed: although Yodo River did not dry up because of Yamato River, it went down below knee deep. Following the completion of the bridge, Yamato River was also dammed up. Moreover, Ieyasu ordered troops to give a battle cry and shoot teppo (guns) three times every night at torino koku (about 17:00 -19:00)/ino koku (about 19:00 - 21:00)/torano koku (about 3:00-5:00) in order to prevent the enemies from sleeping (the battle cries reached as far as Kyoto). Since about that time cannon shootings from the south to the sogamae of Osaka-jo Castle went into full swing, bakufu's shiyori approached near to the moat, Tadaakira Matsudaira troop 20 to 30 ken (one ken equals to about 1.8 meters) and Todo troop 7 ken.

On 10th the Tokugawa side sent a yabumi (letter affixed to an arrow) with a message recommending them to surrender, and on 11th mobilized mine workers in Kai Province and Sado Province to begin to dig tunnels to destroy earthen walls/stone walls from the south side (the old calendar). On 13th Ieyasu distributed 50 ladders equipped with rakes to each daimyo (the old calendar). In addition, he gave orders to reclaim the moat in Senba (Osaka City).

On 16th the whole army opened fire (the old calendar). The bombardments continued until a peace treaty was concluded; attacks with one hundred ozutu (Japanese artilleries) and ishibiya (Japanese artilleries) from Bizenjima in the north side alone to the oku-goten of Honmaru (the keep of a castle) and attacks from Tennoji-guchi in the south side to Goten Senjoshiki (a new target switched from sogamae) in the south of Honmaru. In these bombardments 3 kanme (unit of weight) of ozutsu made in Kunitomo were used, and probably four culverins imported from England about in June, one Saker and 4.5 kanme of 12 Dutch cannons that had arrived in Hyogo Port seven days before were included. The sound of gunfire reached Kyoto and continued without stopping.

In response, the Toyotomi side fired furiously at the approaching Tokugawa side; attacks with teppo (guns) killed or injured 300 to 500 enemies per one battle when they were guarded only with taketaba (bamboo shields against firearms), but guns lost effects greatly when they built tsukiyama (artificial hills)/dorui (earthen walls). In the exchanges of fire Naoyuki BAN achieved a good military result by attacking Yoshishige HACHISUKA at night (17th), however, the Toyotomi side, still being on the back foot, agreed to have peace negotiations (the old calendar).

Peace Negotiations
The Tokugawa side, lacking army provisions because of the cornering of goods by the Toyotomi side, and because of the battle in winter, started peace negotiations through Nagamasu ODA on December 3 (the old calendar). On 8th and 12th Yurakusai and Harunaga exchanged a document on pacification with Masazumi HONDA and Mitsutsugu GOTO (the old calendar). On 15th the Toyotomi side showed a proposal of compromise with a condition that in return for Yodo-dono going to Edo as a hostage, Toyotomi's rokudaka (amount of rokudaka [salary]) should be raised for the ronin in the castle, which Ieyasu refused (the old calendar).

With lack of army provisions and ammunition, psychological warfare that the Tokugawa side conducted, and damages of the towers and camps by cannons, the Toyotomi officers and soldiers had been exhausted, and also Yodo-dono, who was in a leading position in the Toyotomi Family, having seeing damage around her brought by bombardments to Honmaru, Toyotomi side decided to take a softer line, and agreed to have peace negotiations (16th) (the old calendar).

The negotiations took place in Tadataka KYOGOKU's camp on Tokugawa side between Masazumi HONDA and Acha-no-tsubone from Tokugawa side and Joko-in, who was Yodo-dono's sister and had been dispatched as a messenger of the Toyotomi side; on 19th peace terms were agreed and pacification was made with an exchange of written vows (the old calendar). On the same day Ieyasu/Hidetada ordered warlords to stop firing.

The establlished compromise included the following contents; the Toyotomi side should destroy Ninomau (the second bailey) and Sannomaru (the third bailey), leave Honmaru as it was, fill up the outer moat of the castle and, instead of Yodo-dono, Harunaga ONO and Urakusai ODA should offer hostages: the Tokugawa side should guarantee the safety of Hideyori and approval of his main domain and overlook soldiers in the castle. Others included a decision that Hideyori/Yodo-dono had no obligation to go to Edo (however, there is historical material that Ninomaru needed no destruction).

Reclamation of the Moats
According to peace terms on destruction of the castle and reclamation of the moats, it was decided that the Toyotomi family was responsible for Ninomaru, while the Tokugawa family for Sannomaru and the outer moat.. This Shirowari (destroying a castle) had been performed since ancient times, but usually it meant partial reclamation of moats or breaking corners of dorui as a matter of courtesy.

However, the Tokugawa side executed thorough destruction. Under myodai (substitutes for Ieyasu) including Masazumi HONDA, Masanari NARUSE and Natsugu ANDO with Fushin Bugyo (Ministrs of Engineering and Construction) including Tadaakira MATSUDAIRA, Tadamasa HONDA and Yasunori HONDA, the reclamation of the outer moat of the castle was rushed by the besieging army and local residents and then the reclamation of Ninomaru was begun in January. The reclamation of Ninomaru seemed to have taken considerably much time and was forced even through destroying nearby houses and residences. After pacification Ieyasu frequently asked about the progress of the reclamation on his way back to Sunpu. The construction work was completed on 23rd, and all daimyo began to return to their domains (the old calendar).

In the meantime the Toyotomi side protested that they were responsible for the reclamation of Ninomaru, however the Tokugawa side, saying that they were just helping because the work was going slowly, went on the reclamation work. On that occasion gates and towers were thoroughly destroyed.

Reclaiming even the uchibori (inner moat) was one of the peace terms from the beginning.
Therefore, a popular theory is that the Tokugawa side reclaimed even the uchibori "in a cheating way", ignoring the determent of the Toyotomi side, however, the theory may have come from the results that the exaggerated above-mentioned process has been passed down

In the meantime the Tokugawa side had suspicious feelings toward the Toyotomi side because ronin would not leave the castle. It seemed that there was a difference in the interpretation of ronin; the Tokugawa side would leave them unquestioned in the sense of saving their lives, on the other hand the Toyotomi side took it that it would be all right to keep employing them.

Osaka Natsu no Jin (Summer Siege of Osaka)
After pacification was made, Ieyasu returned from Kyoto to Sunpu, and Hidetada to Fushimi, however, on the other hand, they ordered blacksmiths in Kunitomo to manufacture cannons to prepare for war. On March 15 (the old calendar), 1615, when Katsushige ITAKURA, Kyoto shoshidai (The Kyoto deputy), reported to Sunpu that there was a disturbing trend in Osaka such as violent and dangerous behaviors of ronin, restoration of moats and walls, rumors of setting fire to Kyoto and Fushimi, the Tokugawa side demanded that the Toyotomi family should dismiss ronin and their territory should be changed.

On April 1 (the old calendar) Ieyasu ordered daimyo in Kinai region to capture ronin trying to escape from Osaka and Hidemasa OGASAWARA to go to defend Fushimi Castle.

On April 4 (the old calendar), Ieyasu left Sunpu for Nagoya to attend the wedding ceremony of Yoshinao TOKUGAWA. On 5th, the next day when Harunaga ONO' messenger came and reported that they would like to decline the changing of the territory; Ieyasu, answering through Joko-in that if so, nothing could be done about it, ordered daimyo to gather in Toba/Fushimi on April 6 and 7th (the old calendar).

On April 10 (the old calendar) when Ieyasu entered Nagoya castle, Hidetada left Edo. On April 12 (the old calendar) Ieyasu attended Yoshinao TOKUGAWA's wedding ceremony and then on 18th entered Nijo-jo Castle. About that time Hidetada asked Takatora TODO to tell Ieyasu not to begin war before he arrived in Osaka.

On April 21 (the old calendar) Hidetada arrived at Nijo-jo Castle safely and on 22nd, the next day Ieyasu and Hidetada held a war council with Masanobu/Masazumi HONDA (father and son), Toshikatsu DOI, Takatora TODO and others. Then the number of soldiers was about 155,000. Ieyasu gave orders to divide the troops in two, let them go to Osaka by way of Kawachiji and Yamatokokuji and at the same time improve roads and guard key points such as Oyamazaki Town. Besides these two troops, Ieyasu ordered Nagaakira ASNO in Kii Province to come to Osaka from the south.

On May 5(the old calendar) Ieyasu left Kyoto. On that occasion he is said to have told his army to carry three-day army provisions.

On the other hand, the Toyotomi side had an incident that Harunaga ONO, the negotiator was attacked in the castle on April 9 (the old calendar). With negotiations broken down, th Toyotomi side, realizing that the second war could not be avoided, distributed gold and silver to ronin and began to prepare arms. With negotiations broken down, th Toyotomi side, realizing that the second war could not be avoided, distributed gold and silver to ronin shu and began to prepare arms.

Judging from the reduced number of soldiers to 78,000 due to the peace treaty which forced to dismiss part of soldiers, and the defenseless Osaka-jo Castle stripped of moats, the Toyotomi Family decided that holding the castle was not to their advantage and instead they should take a strategy of fighting actively.

About that time Yurakusai ODA, abandoning the Toyotomi Family, left Osaka-jo Castle.

Battle of Kashii
The Toyotomi side made a troop of Harufusa ONO pass Kuragari Toge (mountain pass), capture Koriyama Castle in Yamato Province on April 26 (the old calendar), which Jokei TSUTSUI defended, and set fire to neighboring villages. They set fire to Sakai City on 28th (the old calendar), which was a logistics base to the Tokugawa side. Harufusa troop, cooperating with uprising forces, attacked Kishu Province on April 29 (the old calendar), but the spearheading Naoyuki BAN and Shigemasa TANNOWA fought with their own army alone against Nagaakira ASANO troop only to be killed (the Battle of kashii). Thereafter, Harunaga ONO and others, facing the Asano army, had offensive and defensive battles in Sakai until May 6 (the old calendar).

Battle of Domyoji/Konda
On May 6 (the old calendar) Battle of Domyoji took place when the Toyotomi forces lay in the bakufu army of 35,000 soldiers that were moving toward Osaka-jo Castle. The Toyotomi side was a jumble of army forces and unable to have close contacts; Mototsugu GOTO troop of 2,800 soldiers advanced to Komatsuyama in its single troop, which was given a concentrated attack by troops of more than 20,000 soldiers of Masamune DATE, Katsunari MIZUNO and others and the troop fought hard only to be destroyed and Mototsugu was killed. As many as 3,600 soldiers including Takenori AKASHI, Kanesuke SUSUKIDA and others, who arrived later, fought the Tokugawa army that passed Komatsuyama, and Kanesuke SUSUKIDA and others were killed.

Still later, 12,000 soldiers including Nobushige SANADA, Katsunaga MORI and others arrived, and Sanada troop prevented Shigenaga KATAKURA troop, the spearhead of Masamune DATE troop from advancing. However, the Toyotomi side, receiving the news of defeat in Yao/Wakae, collected remaining soldiers and retreated. The bakufu side, also exhausted with a series of battles, did not chase them.

Battle of Yao/Wakae
On the same day Battle of Yao/Wakae took place, in which 6,000 soldiers of Shigenari KIMURA and 5,300 soldiers of Morichika CHOSOKABE and Moritsugu MASHITA lay in wait for Tokugawa main army of 120,000 soldiers that was moving toward Osaka-jo Castle from Kawachiji. To begin with, Chosokabe troop, covered by fog, made a surprise attack on Takatora TODO troop of 5,000 soldiers and cut off many heads of the Todo Family and others, however, they were blocked by auxiliary forces of the bakufu and destroyed by bakufu's chase when they were retreating. Shigenari KIMURA defeated part of Todo troop and then fought Naotaka II troop, but was killed at the end of a fierce battle.

The Toyotomi side showed their pride, but finally was cornered to the environs of Osaka-jo Castle by the overwhelming bakufu army.

Battle of Tennoji/Okayama

On May 7 (the old calendar) the Toyotomi's army made preparations for interception from the present Abeno Ward, Osaka City to Hirano Ward.

Tennoji-guchi was guarded by 14,500 soldiers including Nobushige SANADA, Katsunaga MORI and others.

Okayama-guchi was guarded by 4,600 soldiers including Harufusa ONO and others.

Takenori AKASHI troop of 300 men as an independent troop and Harunaga ONO's nanategumi (seven groups) troop of 15,000 men as a rear-guard troop of the whole army were positioned.

In response, the bakufu positioned Yamatoji forces and Nagaakira ASANO troop of 40,000 men around Mt. Chausu-yama and Tadanao MATSUDAIRA troop of 15,000 men in its front.

Tadatomo HONDA troop was deployed at Tennoji-guchi and the headquarters of 15,000 soldiers of Ieyasu TOKUGAWA was positioned in its back.

In Okayama-guchi were positioned 27,500 men in total including Toshitsune MAEDA and others. In its back were positioned the headquarters of 23,000 men of Hidetada TOKUGAWA accompanied by his trusted vassals.

The Battle of Tennoji/Okayama, which began at about noon, was the greatest and the last battle in the Warring States period, became a fierce battle using intensively the greatest force of arms and firepower that had been seen before. Charges by Nobushige SANADA, Katsunaga MORI, Harufusa ONO and so on on the Toyotomi side killed and injured daimyo, officers and soldiers on the bakufu side and put the headquarters of Ieyasu/Hidetada in a great confusion, however, the bakufu army surpassing in forces, gradually recovering from chaos, regained its balance, while the Toyotomi army, having lost many officers and soldiers, was destroyed at about 3:00 pm. They all retreated in the castle.

Close
Osaka-jo Castle, which was completely defenseless with moats all filled up except in Honmaru, had no way to keep off the rushing Tokugawa army. Starting with the first invasion of the Echizen troop of Tadanao MATSUDAIRA that destroyed the Sanada troop, the Tokugawa army entered the Castle in a stream; the fire set in the inside of the Honmaru by betrayers reached the castle keep leading the fall of Osaka Castle at midnight of May 7 (the old calendar). It is said that the rising flames lit up the night sky, and the brightly reddened sky over Osaka could be seen even from Kyoto.

The next day the plea of Senhime, who escaped from the castle, to spare the life of Hideyori being ignored, Hideyori committed suicide with Yodo-dono in an unhulled rice barn.

It is said that Ieyasu TOKUGAWA thought to use only fudai daimyo (daimyo in hereditary vassal to the Tokugawa family) to go into battles of the Fuyu no Jin (Winter Siege of Osaka), while in the Natsu no Jin (Summer Siege of Osaka) by ordering the daimyo who had been favored by the Toyotomi Family to attack Osaka Castle, he tried to avoid ethical accusation to the Tokugawa Family in later years. (There were no moral arguments on the destruction of the Toyotomi Family by the Tokugawa Family in the Edo period, rather, Tokugawa vassals frequently praised the chivalry of the enemy generals).

At the left hand of painting of "Osaka Natsu no Jinzu Byobu" (Folding screen with painting of Summer Sieze of Osaka) in the possession of the Tenshukaku (keep or tower) of Osaka-jo Castle, which Nagamasa KURODA who joined in the war ordered painters to make, there are detailed scenes that warriors of Tokugawa side assaulted the public in the town of Osaka-jo Castle, trying to get nisekubi (fake head as a proof to kill someone for awards), plundering and despoiling their possessions including clothes, shooting those who try to escape crossing over river, and raping women, and so on. According to documents, among ten and some thousands of beheaded people, many ordinary people were included who were murdered for nisekubi (false head) and the number of people who survived but were captured as slaves reached as many as thousands from adults to young children.

According to a townsman's document, "Mishikayono Monokatari"(A story of what I saw in life), the misery was that "they stabbed to death men and women including old people and babies and the number of miserable people who lost their parents, whose children were captured, or who parted their partners were beyond number."

Reactions of Daimyo

Shimazu clan replied to the letter from Toyotomi Family that "they had already completed their service to Toyotomi Family", however, they could not fulfill joining the Tokugawa army both in Fuyu no Jin and Natsu no Jin (in Natsu no Jin they got information on Osaka no Eki after having left Kagoshima and arriving in Hirado City, then they returned). That was because Tadatsune SHIMAZU, the lord of the domain, unable to successfully carry out the reformation of domain duties, could not control his vassals as he wished, and as a result, their nonparticipation caused a temporal rumor of "Shimazu Rebellion" leading to a position carefully supervised by Kokura Domain. After that incident, the Shimazu clan rapidly promoted the reformation and worked actively for the bakufu as in performing bakufu enterprises, sending troops in Shimabara War and so on.

Postwar Pcocessing

Kunimatsu TOYOTOMI, Hideyori's son was captured when he was hiding and executed, and Naahime, Hideyori' s daughter had her life spared on condition that she would enter the priesthood. The Tokugawa shougunate even violated Hideyoshi's grave during Iemitsu TOKUGAWA period and had pursued remnants of the Toyotomi Family including Morichika CHOSOKABE for more than ten years (Chuya MARUBASH with his real name Morizumi CHOSOKABE, a righ-hand man of Shosetsu YUI, who attempted the overthrow of the Tokugawa shougunate, is said to have been the second son of Morichika CHOSOKABE's concubine). Besides Morichika, Okiaki HOSOKAWA was ordered by his father to commit jijin (suicide with one's sword) by his father, Tadaoki HOSOKAW, Nagamori MASHITA committed jijin in Iwatsuki Ward where he was banished to compensate for Moritsugu's crime, and Shigenari FURUTA did so for the suspicion of harboring Kunimatsu. Takenori AKASHI disappeared never to be found, however, his son, Shozaburo AKASHI, was captured in Satsuma in 1633.

After the war Tadaakira MATSUDAIRA moved into Osaka-jo Castle, and undertook the revival of Osaka. When the first stage of the revival was completed, Tadaakira was transferred to Yamato Koriyama, and after that Osaka came under direct control of the shogun family and became a commercialized city called "the Kitchen of Japan". The bakufu constructed New Osaka-jo Castle where Osaka-jo Castle was, and made it one of footholds to rule Saigoku.

On the other hand, Tadateru MATSUDAIRA was given kaieki (sudden dismissal and deprivation of position, privileges and properties) the next year partly because he arrived late for the Battle of Tenniji in which he was a supreme commander. Tadanao MATSUDAIRA, who made the first invasion into Osaka Castle, was dissatisfied with the incensive award for his achievement, which was neither Osaka Castle nor a new territory, but only "Hatsuhana-katatsuki" and a promotion to Jusanmi Sangi (councillor in the Junior Third Rank) Sakone gon no chujo: In later years his dissatisfaction led him to kaieki after committing misconduct.

With this battle as the last one, large-scale battles which had continued since the Sengoku period(Japan) came to an end. This is called Genna-Enbu (peace after Genna era).

Tradition

Nobushige (Yukimura) SANADA

Nobushige (Yukimura) SANADA's energetic activity in Osaka Natsu no Jin was passed down the generations even in the Tokugawa government as it was performed in Kabuki and so on or drawn in nishikie (color prints) in the Edo period
Particularly, "Sanada Sandaiki (three generations of the Sanada family)" written in the middle Edo period contributed to making not only Shigenobu but also the Sanada family famous.

The Battle of Tennoji was described in "Sappan Nikki" of the Shimazu Family as follows: "Because the Sanada troop was the srongest troop in Japan, stronger than any troop in stories from ancient times, the Tokugawa army was half defeated", "Ieyasu even thought of committing seppuku", and so on.

Also in Kozankojiroku, a biography of Takatora TODO, who guarded the Ieyasu headquaters, there is a description of "a great collapse of hatamoto (direct retainers of the shogun)" and Takatora, reviewing the battle, says in the biography that his troop fought back more or less, but was overwhelmed by the Sanada troop, and Takatora himself could not confirm the safety of Ieyasu, who abandoned the headquarters shortly afterward. There remains "Tadataka OKUBO Oboegaki (memoradom)" (Mikawa Monogatari [Tales from Mikawa]", a record of later-year investigations on hatamoto units that ran away, leaving Ieyasu, out of fear of fierce attacks by the Sanada troop.

There are several theories on how closely the Sanada troop and the Mori troop chased after Ieyasu himself, and a variety of drawings on imagination were made on nishikie (colored woodblock prints), illustrated reenactment, and historical manga (comic books) in later ages. There are differences about people around Ieyasu such as Mataichi OGURI, Hikozaemon OKUBO and others, depending on books.

There are various theories about Nobushige's jijin, but generally he is said to have been killed when he was sitting on a stone path in Yasui-jinja Shrine. The Yasui-jinja Shrine is located in the north of Isshin-ji Temple in the north of Tennoji Park/Mt. Chausu-yama. This is assumed to have been established by Imperial Japanese Army Saff Headquarters in the Meiji period, and on "Sanada Yukimura Senshi Ato no Hi (monument) " in Yasui-jinja Shrine, one sentence showing the involvement of the Saff Headquarters in selecting the place where Yukimonura died.

Munetsugu NISHIO, the captain of the Tadanao MATSUDAIRA gun unit reported the scene when he killed Shigonobu so exaggeratedly that Ieyasu is said not to have taken Munetsugu's report that he killed Shigenobu to be true. Thereafter, Munetsugu, praying for the repose of Nobushige's soul, reared "Sanada Jizo (guardian deity of children)" in Koken-ji temple in Fukui City.

Legend of Surviving Hideyori

In Kagoshima Prefecture, there is a popular belief that "Nobushige did not die in the battle, but ran away together with Hideyori/Shigenari in Taniyama (Kagoshima City)." An old children's song, saying that "devil-like Sanada, taking flower-like Hidoyori, ran away to Kagoshima" is said to have become popular in Kyoto and Osaka just after the war.

Legend That Ieyasu Died on the Battlefield

There is a popular belief that "Ieyasu was injured by Nobushige troop, ran away to a temple (Nanshu-ji Temple) and died there", and even now in the Nanshu-ji Temple there exists Ieyasu' s tomb.

Legend of How Osaka-jo Castle Was Attacked

After a peace treaty and reclamation of the moats in Osaka Fuyu no Jin, Ieyasu raised an army again and captured Osaka-jo Castle and there is an episode that Ieyasu heard about this approach directly from Hideyoshi when he was alive.

Participating Busho (Japanese Military Commanders)
Toyotomi Army (Toyotomi Family)

Bakufu Side
Fuyu no Jin
The arrangement of each general is different by historical materials.

Natsu no Jin

Present-day Idiomatic Expressions
When there are elections in Osaka such as an election for Osaka Prefecture Governor, for Osaka City Mayor, or for by-elections in Osaka electoral district, and large-scale athletic meetings such as Osaka World Championships in Athletics, each of them is called by the media "Osaka O no Jin" (the name of a season is put in O).

[Original Japanese]