Battle of Mikatagahara
Mikatagahara plain, north of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
What happened
The warlord Takeda Shingen fought Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was helped by troops sent by Oda Nobunaga. Takeda Shingen marched toward Kyoto, and the young Tokugawa Ieyasu chose to fight him on the open plain of Mikatagahara. The Takeda cavalry broke the Tokugawa lines, and Ieyasu barely escaped back to Hamamatsu Castle with a few men. There he left the gates open and lit fires, and the Takeda, fearing a trap, did not attack.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It was a decisive defeat for the young Ieyasu, but he survived. He later became shōgun, the military ruler of Japan.
What came next
Shingen was wounded at the siege of Noda Castle in February 1573 and died in May. Ieyasu lived at Hamamatsu Castle until 1588.
Did you know?
Ieyasu may have survived thanks to a bluff: the open gates and drumbeats made the Takeda think they were walking into an ambush.
Timeline
- 1571Tokugawa Ieyasu moves to Hamamatsu Castle.
- 25 January 1573Takeda Shingen wins at Mikatagahara.
- May 1573Takeda Shingen dies.
- 1588Ieyasu leaves Hamamatsu Castle.