Battles of Kawanakajima

Battles of Kawanakajima
Part of the Sengoku period
The battle of Kawanakajima, Shingen on the left and Kenshin on the right. Woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige (1845).
Date 1553–1564 Location Kawanakajima, Shinano Province (in the present-day city of Nagano) Result 4th battle: Indecisive
Belligerents
Takeda clan	Uesugi clan
Commanders and leaders
Takeda Shingen Yamamoto Kansuke † Kōsaka Masanobu Takeda Nobushige † Morozumi Torasada † Hajikano Tadatsugu †	Uesugi Kenshin Kakizaki Kageie Amakasu Kagemochi Irobe Katsunaga Uesugi Norimasa Murakami Yoshikiyo
Strength
4th battle: 20,000	4th battle: 18,000
Casualties and losses
4th battle: 3,000+	4th battle: 4,300+

The battles of Kawanakajima (川中島の戦い, Kawanakajima no tatakai^?) were fought in the Sengoku period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province in the plain of Kawanakajima, "the island between the rivers", in the north of Shinano Province. The location is in the southern part of the present-day city of Nagano. Five major battles took place there: Fuse in 1553, Saigawa in 1555, Uenohara in 1557, Hachimanbara in 1561, and Shiozaki in 1564. The best known and most severe among them was fought on October 18, 1561, and was only fought in the heart of the Kawanakajima plain, thus being the "battle of Kawanakajima". The battles were fought after Shingen conquered Shinano, expelling Ogasawara Nagatoki and Murakami Yoshikiyo, who subsequently turned to Kenshin for help. The battles became one of the most cherished tales in Japanese military history, the epitome of Japanese chivalry and romance, mentioned in epic literature, woodblock printing and movies.

The battles were part of the 16th century Sengoku period, also known as the "Age of Civil War", and were little different from other conflicts. After the Ōnin War (1467–1477), the shogun's system and taxation had increasingly less control outside the province of the capital in Kyoto, and powerful lords (daimyōs) began to assert themselves. Such lords gained power by usurpation, warfare or marriage, any means that would safeguard their position. It was manifested in yamajiro ("mountain castles"), which overlooked the provinces.

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