Yamamoto Kansuke (1500 – killed in action October 18, 1561) Yamamoto Kansuke Yamamoto Kansuke was a samurai strategist and one of the famed 24 Generals of Takeda Shingen. The Mikawa region, (eastern Aichi Prefecture) was renown for having bred some of the toughest, bravest and able warriors. One such [...]
Ukita Hideie (1573 – December 17, 1655) Ukita Hideie was born the second son of the Lord of Okayama Castle, Ukita Naoie. He was nine years old when his father died, leaving him in charge of the castle, clan and domain. Just before his father’s death, the Ukita had sided [...]
Takeda Katsuyori (15,000) Vs. Oda Nobunaga & Tokugawa Ieyasu (38,000) The Takeda were the most feared samurai cavalry army of the 1500’s. But they were decimated in one of the greatest of samurai battles, and Japan’s first major gun-battle, Nagashino, fought in 1575. The Battle of Nagashino Takeda [...]
Fukui Castle, Home of Ieyasu’s Secret Son Fukui Castle was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu’s secret son, Yuki Hideyasu in 1606. Ieyasu had 19 wives and concubines, bearing 11 sons and 5 daughters. Yuki Hideyasu was Ieyasu’s second son, although born not to his wife, Tsukiyama Dono, but to her servant, Oman! When Oman became pregnant, [...]
The Isshi Incident Fujiwara no Kamatari The Isshi Incident was a successful coup d’etat staged by Fujiwara no Katamari, and Prince Naka no Oe to destroy the Soga clan by first assassinating statesman Soga no Iruka on July 10, 645. Soga no Iruka was the son of the [...]
Yasuke, The First Foreign Samurai (c. 1556-?) Yasuke, from a 1943 story book on the African Samurai Yasuke(彌介・弥助) was an African page, brought to Japan in 1579 as the servant of the Italian Jesuit missionary inspector Alessandro Valignano. Arriving some 20 years before the Englishman, William Adams, Yasuke is [...]
The Battle of Dan-no-Ura On April 25, 1185, Minamoto no Yoshitsune's fleet defeated the naval forces of the Taira clan in The battle of Dan-no-ura, fought in the narrow waters separating the northern tip of Kyushu and the southern tip of Honshu, known as the Shimonoseki Straits. The battle was the climax to [...]
Imperial Japanese Army Vs Samurai of Satsuma The Battle of Shiroyama, the battle that inspired the final scenes in the movie The Last Samurai, took place on Sept. 24, 1877, and was fought between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Samurai of Satsuma, in Kagoshima, Kyushu. 30,000 Imperial troops faced off against [...]
Soga no Iruka (?? - assassinated, July 10, 645) Soga no Iruka was the son of the powerful statesman and Minister of State, Soga no Emishi, who had orchestrated the installation of the puppet Emperor Jomei on the Imperial Throne, despite Prince Yamashiro, son of Prince Shotoku, being the favored [...]
Prince Hisaaki The Eighth Kamakura Shogun (October 19, 1276 – November 16, 1328) The Eighth Kamakura Shogun, Prince Hisaaki was the son of Emperor Go-Fukakusa and the younger brother of Emperor Fushimi. He was nominated as successor to his cousin, and adoptive father Prince Koreyasu upon his deposition as Shogun in [...]