Sanada Yukimura: Ueda to the Siege of Osaka

In 1600 Masayuki and Yukimura joined the western forces before Sekigahara and fortified Ueda Castle. When Tokugawa Hidetada marched a sizable army on the Nakasendō, the Sanada fought his 40,000 men with only 2,000. The castle did not fall quickly enough, so Hidetada gave up and reached the main army too late for the Battle of Sekigahara. Today the site is a public park with a local history museum and a shrine dedicated to the Sanada clan.

Visitor guidance: A ten-minute walk from Ueda Station on the Nagano Shinkansen.

Defeat at Sekigahara cost the Sanada their lands. Their territory was seized by Tokugawa, and Yukimura and his father Masayuki were exiled to Mount Kōya in the Kii Peninsula. The town of Kudoyama, long associated with the mountain, records itself as the place of their exile. The pin marks Jison-in, a temple in Kudoyama built to administer Kongōbu-ji, and now part of the UNESCO Kii Mountain Range pilgrimage sites.

Location precision: The sources name Kudoyama but not the Sanada residence; the pin marks the town's Jison-in temple.

When Tokugawa Ieyasu moved against the Toyotomi in 1614, Osaka Castle was their stronghold. Toyotomi Hideyori named Yukimura garrison commander because of his experience opposing Ieyasu at Ueda. The siege of the castle began on 4 December 1614 and lasted until a truce on 22 January 1615. The castle stood on the Uemachi plateau, enclosed by the Yodo and Yamato rivers, and today Osaka Castle is open to the public.

Visitor guidance: Reached from Osakajōkōen Station on the JR West Osaka Loop Line.

The castle was strong in the north but weakly guarded toward the Tennōji plateau in the south, so Yukimura built a fortified earthwork, the Sanada Maru, on that side. From there, about 7,000 men repeatedly repelled the Tokugawa attacks that began on 4 December. Today the site is a small plot of land in the city, with a partial moat and a bridge, next to Sanadayama Park.

Location precision: The exact outline of the fort is uncertain; the pin marks the plot north of Sanadayama Park.

Visitor guidance: A small plot with a partial moat and bridge beside Sanadayama Park; not a staffed attraction.

In the Summer Campaign Yukimura found a Tokugawa force of nearly 150,000 forming up, and his troops charged down from Chausuyama in a last attack on the Tokugawa lines at Tennōji. He was killed in the Battle of Tennōji, the last battle between two great samurai armies ever fought. A Japanese account says he fell at Yasui Shrine in Tennōji, though accounts of his death differ.

Location precision: The exact spot of his death is traditional and accounts differ; the pin marks Yasui Shrine.

Visitor guidance: Open 7:00 to 16:00; no priest in residence.