Siege of Odawara 1590: The Fall of the Later Hōjō

Odawara Castle was the heart of the Later Hōjō domain. In 1587, expecting war with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Hōjō greatly expanded its defences. When Hideyoshi's huge army arrived in 1590 it did not storm the walls. It settled in for a three-month siege, with musicians, acrobats and jugglers entertaining the besiegers, and the Hōjō finally surrendered. Hōjō Ujimasa was forced to take his own life along with his brother Ujiteru. The keep you see today is a 1960 concrete rebuild standing on the old stone foundation.

訪問のヒント: Odawara Castle Park is open to visitors; the concrete keep stands on the old stone foundation.

Hachigata was one of the Hōjō outposts in the region. Lord Hōjō Ujikuni had urged an ambush of Hideyoshi's armies on the road, but Ujimasa overruled him, so he pulled his men back here. For a month in March 1590, about 3,000 defenders held off some 30,000 troops under Maeda Toshiie and Uesugi Kagekatsu. Ujikuni finally surrendered on condition that his men's lives be spared. Today part of the ruins has been reconstructed, with some walls, a gate and a building, and a museum tells the castle's story.

訪問のヒント: About a 20-minute walk from Yorii Station on the Tōbu Tōjō Line; a history museum stands nearby.

Hōjō Ujiteru built Hachiōji Castle on a mountain in what is now Hachiōji. In 1590 he marched off to try to lift the siege of Odawara and left only 1,300 men behind. On the morning of 23 June a Toyotomi army of 15,000 attacked, and the castle was captured before the day ended. Tokugawa Ieyasu later ordered the castle destroyed, and the site stayed abandoned for years because people believed it was haunted. It is a ruin now, though in 1990 some stone walls, a moat bridge and the entrance to the lord's palace were rebuilt.

訪問のヒント: Walk about 15 minutes from the Reienmae / Hachiojijoseki bus stop (Nishi Tokyo Bus from Takao Station).

Hideyoshi's answer to the stalemate was a castle built in secret. On Kasagakeyama hill, three kilometres west of Odawara Castle and overlooking all its defences, the castle was built in secret over 80 days, with massive stone walls and a keep, hidden in the woods. Then the trees were cut in one night, and the castle seemed to appear overnight. The sight took the Hōjō defenders' will to resist, and they surrendered. Afterwards the castle was abandoned and soon fell into ruins. Today it is Odawara's municipal park.

訪問のヒント: The park is about 50 minutes on foot from Hayakawa Station.

Far from Odawara, Oshi Castle in Gyōda was a Hōjō stronghold. Hideyoshi sent Ishida Mitsunari with 23,000 troops. Mitsunari built 28 kilometres of dikes to flood the defenders out, but despite the dikes and torrential rains the castle held. Its defenders only surrendered after hearing that their overlords had been defeated at Odawara. The donjon seen today was rebuilt in 1988 and houses the Gyōda City Local History Museum.

訪問のヒント: The rebuilt keep is a local history museum in Gyōda, Saitama.