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The siege of Nagashino castle, or Nagashinjo, was a part of the larger battle of Nagashino that occurred in June 1575. This battle saw the forces of Takeda Katsuyori engaging the armies of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga. The outcome saw such a significant defeat of the Takeda army that the Takeda clan was no longer a significant power in Sengoku politics.

 

Nagashino castle was held for Tokugawa Ieyasu by Okudaira Sadamasa. He had a garrison of 500 men whose equipment included 200 matchlocks and at least one cannon. The castle was besieged by the Takeda forces numbering around 15000 men. Fighting started on 17 June and lasted until 27 June when the arrival of the relief forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga caused Takeda Katsuyori to change the focus of his attacks.

 

One significant event in the battle was the heroic actions of the samurai Torii Sune’emon. He undertook the suicidal task of breaking through the Takeda siege lines to bring a message about the siege to Tokugawa Ieyasu at Okazaki. He swam the river on 23 June and after signaling the castle garrison that he successfully got through the Takeda lines, he walked to Okazaki. Here he found both Tokugawa and Oda who assured him they would move to relieve the next morning.

 

Rather than stay with the relief force, he tried to return to the castle but was captured by the Takeda, who urged him to tell the defenders that there was no relief coming. Instead, he shouted to defenders to keep fighting as help was coming. The Takeda then crucified him in sight of the castle walls. His death motived the castle defenders to keep on fighting even though they were out of resources.

 

The site of Nagashino Castle, or Nagashinjo in Japanese, is reached by the Iida Line train from Toyohashi. Getting off at Nagashinjo Eki, it’s just a short walk to the site of the castle. Not much remains of the castle as it was the older style of Japanese castle that had wooden buildings, with stone only being used in the outer walls. Traces of some of the walls and dry moat can be seen surrounding the area of the inner bailey (hon maru). The hon maru is a large flat area in which the castle keep would have been located. The only building on the site now is the museum that contains a small but very informative collection of artefacts relating to the siege of the castle in 1575.