Siege of Chihaya

The 1333 siege of Chihaya took place during the final year of Japan's Kamakura period. It was one of several battles of the Genkō War, in which Emperor Go-Daigo sought to eliminate the power of the Hōjō clan regents. Chihaya-jō (千早城, Chihaya fortress) was built atop Mt. Kongō, in Kawachi province, in 1332. Successfully defended the following year, by the Imperial forces led by Kusunoki Masashige. It would eventually fall to the Ashikaga shogunate in 1390.

Kusunoki Masashige's defense of this fortress became a very classic siege in Japanese history. This was because both the Imperial garrison and the besieging force of the Hōjō demonstrated high levels of siegecraft. Kusunoki's success here made up for his loss two years earlier at the siege of Akasaka, where surrender was forced by the denial of water supplies. Unlike at Akasaka, however, Kusunoki made sure that Chihaya could stand effectively against many attacks, which included the Hōjō's usage of movable bridges and fire. Kusunoki also employed many strategies such as dummy troops, and surprise raids.

The fortress' position near the summit of the mountain further aided in its defense, allowing Kusunoki's inferior numbers to not be a hindrance in such limited space. His forces employed their superior knowledge of the ridges and ravines of the area to great effect, ending in a successful defense and the enemy's retreat once they learned of the collapse of the Hojo Rokuhara troops in Kyoto.

• Outline of the Genkō War (1331-1333)
  

  HISTORIC BATTLES

  Genkō War (1331-1333)

  Genkō War was a civil war in Japan which marked the fall of the Kamakura shogunate and end of the power of the Hōjō clan. The war thus preceded the Nanboku-chō period and the rise of the Ashikaga shogunate. Genkō is the name of the Japanese era corresponding to the period 1331-1334. View Historic Battle »

  Siege of Kasagi: The temple was raided in the night by Hōjō forces under Suyama Yoshitaka and Komiyama Jirō, who climbed the cliffs surrounding the fortress, and set it aflame. The Emperor, however, escaped and fled.

  Siege of Akasaka: The Siege of Akasaka was one of the earlier battles of the Genkō War between the figurehead Emperor Godaigo and the largely Hōjō controlled Kamakura shogunate during the final years of the Kamakura period in Japan.

  Siege of Chihaya: Successfully defended the following year, by the Imperial forces led by Kusunoki Masashige. It would eventually fall to the Ashikaga shogunate in 1390.

  Battle of Bubaigawara: It was fought on the banks of the Tama River in central Musashi province in what is now part of the city of Fuchū, Tokyo on May 15 and 16, 1333, it pitted the anti-shogunate imperial forces led by Nitta Yoshisada against the forces of the Hōjō-led Kamakura shogunate.

  Siege of Kamakura: Forces loyal to Emperor Go-Daigo and led by Nitta Yoshisada entered the city from multiple directions and destroyed it; in the end, the Hōjō leaders retreated to Tōshō-ji, the Hōjō family temple, where they committed suicide with the rest of the clan.

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Genkō War (1331-1333)" and "Siege of Chihaya", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.