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Period: 710 BCE to 1100 BCE
Early ages
Japan in the early ages were in separate groups. The average living ranges for lower class families lived in the cold, draftee fire, wore scarce clothing and nearly teared apart clothes. Barley any food with only little bits of food everyday and lack of sanitary conditions. -
Mar 20, 1184
Battle of Ichi-no-Tani
The battle of Ichi-no-Tani is one of the earliest recorded battles in Japanese history. The battle was between the Minamoto clan and Taira clan when the Minamoto clan attacked the main area of Taira with the battle being fought in hand-and-hand combat. This battle began many battles and wars between the Minamoto clan and the Taira clan -
Apr 25, 1185
Battle of Dan-no-ura
This battle was the deciding battle of the Genpei war between the Minamoto and Taira clan. The battle was held at the Shimonoseki strait and the Taira clan had an advantage of knowing the tides. The Minamoto brought ships carrying the young emperor. At the end of the battle the Taira lost a large portion of there territory to the Minamoto, resulting in the Minamoto conclusively winning the battle. -
1560
Battle of Okehazama
The battle of Okehazama was the starting point of Nobunaga Oda winning battles and wars. Yoshimoto and Oda went to war in 1560, and Yoshimoto had taken countless fortresses of Oda's. Oda then created a dummy army so that he can then take many of Yoshimoto's fortresses. At the end of the war, Oda was crowned the winner. -
Sep 10, 1561
Battle of Kawanakajima
The battle at Kawanakajima was 5 failed attempts of Takeda Shingen trying to expand his territory. All the attempts failed due to Shingen trying to invade bigger armies and only sending a few 1000 to a few 10000. All 5 battles ended in both sides loosing and then withdrawing, due to them both not wanting to go to war any longer. -
Aug 9, 1570
Battle of Anegawa
In 1570, Nobunaga Oda and Tokugawa faced off against Azai Nagamasa and Asakura Yoshigage at the Ane river. Nagamasa originally allied with Oda and Tokugawa, he supported Azai instead. Oda felt betrayed so he attacked Nagamasa. Oda and Tokugawa both split there armies in half to on the Azai and Nagamasa towers. In the end, Oda and Tokugawa won the battle. -
Jan 25, 1573
Battle at Mikatagahara
Ambitious and powerful Takeda Shingen wanted to take the capital of Kyoto. Kyoto sent 30,000 soldiers and captured a few castles. He then caught up with Tokugawa and Oba's army of 11,000. Not wanting to fight, Shingen went for the capital. But some of Tokugawa's men attacked Shingen's camp and scared them off. Resulting in a victory for Oda and Tokugawa once again. -
Jun 28, 1575
Battle of Nagashino
The battle of Nagashino is a battle that showed the decline of the Samurai. This battle was the fist of Nobunaga using gunpowder weapons, and sent 3,000 men to the battle. His enemy, the Takeda clan, charged at the army. Most of the army was hit by gunfire. The remaining men were then annihilated by Nobunaga's men. The end of the battle was another win for Oba's army. -
Battle of Sendaigawa
After Nobunaga death, Hideyoshi continued the work of Nobunaga. The battle took place in 1587 and Kato Kiyomasa would lead the army, the battle would be fought valiantly. Even though Hideyoshi had 170,000 men and his enemy 5,000. His men led a great charge with courage and the battle ended with Toyotomi's men won the battle. -
Battle of Sekigahara
The most famous battle in samurai history is the battle between Tokugawa and Ishida Mitsunari. Both sides met in the valley of Sekigahara to determine who would be the new shogunate. Mitsunari army was around 80-120,000 troops, while Tokugawa only had around 74,000 troops. At the end of the battle, Mitsunari won and Tokugawa lost. -
Battle of Tenno-Ji
The battle of Tenno-Ji was fought outside of the walls in Osaka in 1615. Leyasu sieged the fortress for months. Leyasu tricked into leading to a huge battle to outside the fortress. During the battle, Leyasu participated in the battle and was fatally wounded, but ended up triumphantly winning the battle. -
Battle of Shiroyama
The final major battle in Japanese history. Samurai leader Saigo Takemori versed against the Imperial Japanese Army, located at Shiroyama Hill. The army of 500 samurai would fight hard and valiant against the Japanese government’s army of 20,000. But nearing the end of the battle, Saigo Takemori was sadly killed during the battle. The Japanese Government won and this marked the end of the samurai soldiers.