The Battle of Minatogawa (), also known as the Battle of Minato River, was a battle of the Nanboku-chō Wars fought near the Minato River in

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...

(present day

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

) on 5 July 1336. The Imperial forces loyal to

Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order ...

led by

Kusunoki Masashige was a Japanese samurai of the Kamakura period remembered as the ideal of samurai loyalty. Kusunoki fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in the Genkō War to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate and restore power in Japan to the Imperial Court. Kusunoki ...

and

Nitta Yoshisada was a samurai lord of the Nanboku-chō period Japan. He was the head of the Nitta clan in the early fourteenth century, and supported the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in the Nanboku-chō period. He famously marched on Kamakura, besieging ...

attempted to intercept the

Ashikaga Ashikaga (足利) may refer to: * Ashikaga clan (足利氏 ''Ashikaga-shi''), a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Minamoto clan; and that formed the basis of the eponymous shogunate ** Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府 ''Ashikaga bakufu''), a ...

forces led by

Ashikaga Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromac ...

in Settsu. The Ashikaga invaded from

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

after consolidating their forces at the Battle of Tatarahama and attacked the Imperial force at the Minato River from land and sea. The Imperial force was surrounded and destroyed by Ashikaga, killing Kusunoki and causing Yoshisada to retreat, and allowing the Ashikaga to march to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. The Battle of Minatogawa was a major defeat for the Imperial loyalists but became famous in

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of year ...

for the loyalty displayed by Kusunoki to the Emperor in the face of certain death and defeat.

Background

In February 1336, the defeat of the rebellious

Ashikaga clan The was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1333 to 1573. The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga in ...

in the Nanboku-chō Wars forced

to flee the capital

for the island of

. With this position of strength, the

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

general

had attempted to persuade

to seek peace with the Ashikaga. However, believing that the threat of the Ashikaga clan could be eliminated, Go-Daigo refused and ordered

to assemble the force to defeat the Ashikaga armies. Yoshisada launched his campaign as ordered, but when

Akamatsu Norimura also well known as Akamatsu Enshin was a Japanese samurai of the Akamatsu clan in the Muromachi period. He was governor (''shugo'') of Harima Province in Hyōgo Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005) "Akamatsu Norimura,"''Japan encycloped ...

sided with the Ashikaga he was led into a protracted siege defending

Shirahata Castle is the remains of a Muromachi period Japanese castle structure located in the town of Kamigōri, Akō District, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site as one of the Remains of Akamatsu-shi Castles ...

Harima Province or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji. During the ...

. With the Imperial forces distracted by the siege, the Ashikaga had time to regroup and consolidate its forces in Kyushu by winning the Battle of Tatarahama against Imperial loyalists in April. Immediately, Takauji launched the counter-invasion against the Imperial forces, advancing into

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

by land and sea. Yoshisada was informed of Takauji's advance and ended the siege at Shirohata Castle, attempting to find a better defensive position against the Ashikaga invasion by retreating to Hyogo.

Battle

Emperor Go-Daigo ordered Kusunoki to gather his force and to reinforce Yoshisada in Settsu despite the strategic flaws of the plan. Kusunoki proposed that the Emperor and Imperial forces hide on

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by S ...

near Kyoto, allowing the Ashikaga to enter the city and attacking from the mountain, trapping them and forcing them to defend the city while harassing their supply route. Go-Daigo rejected the proposal, refusing to leave Kyoto, and after failing to argue for the strategy, Kusunoki ordered his eldest son,

Kusunoki Masatsura , along with his father Masashige and brothers Masanori and Masatoki, was a supporter of the Southern Imperial Court during Japan's Nanbokucho Wars. Masatsura was one of the primary military leaders who revived the Southern Court in the 1340s. ...

, back to his domain to continue the war before advancing to successfully join Yoshisada. The Imperial force had no naval force to prevent itself from being surrounded, but chose a defendable position near the Minato River and extended its troop east to attempt to prevent a landing from sea to the south. The Ashikaga force chose to encircle and destroy the Imperial force. The main land force led by

Ashikaga Tadayoshi "Ashikaga Tadayoshi" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 624. was a general of the Northern and Southern Courts period (1337–92) of Japanese history and a close associate ...

attacked the Imperials from the west to tie down Masashige, with

Shoni Yorihisa Shoni may refer to: Places * Shoni Bay, Red Sea Riviera, Egypt * Shaughnessy Village ("Shoni" for short), Montreal, Quebec, Canada People * Shōni clan, a family of Japanese nobles * Shoni Jones, Welsh soccer player * Shoni Schimmel (born 199 ...

launching a side attack from the south and

Shiba Takatsune 　 was the Constable (''shugo'') of Echizen Province during the 14th century Nanboku-chō Wars in Japan. He acted to block the northward progress of Nitta Yoshisada, who supported the Emperor's Southern Court against the ''shōgun''s Northern C ...

circling from the north to attack from behind. The landing of

Hosokawa Jozen Hosokawa (typically ja, 細川, meaning "narrow river" or "little river") is a Japanese surname. People with the name include: * Bill Hosokawa (1915–2007), Japanese American author and journalist * Chieko Hosokawa (born 1929), a Japanese manga ...

further to the east forced Yoshisada to avoid an encirclement by pulling back and Kusunoki was quickly surrounded with Takauji landing his naval force between two Imperial forces without any interference. Abandoned by the main Imperial force, the Kusunoki clan force was quickly overwhelmed and Kusunoki Masashige, his brother

Kusunoki Masasue Kusunoki Masasue (Japanese: 楠木正季, died July 5, 1336) was a samurai warlord during the Nanboku-chō period, and the younger brother of Kusunoki Masashige. He died alongside his brother as part of the Battle of Minatogawa on July 5, 1336. He i ...

, and all his clansmen were subsequently killed. Yoshisada was forced back to Kyoto which was quickly abandoned as undefendable and Go-Daigo retreated to the religious sanctuary of Mount Hiei, which he had previously refused to do. The unimpeded force of Ashikaga clan entered Kyoto and enthroned

Emperor Kōmyō (January 11, 1322 – July 26, 1380) was the second of the Emperors of Northern Court, although he was the first to be supported by the Ashikaga Bakufu. According to pre-Meiji scholars, his reign spanned the years from 1336 through 1348. Genea ...

, beginning the

Northern Court The , also known as the Ashikaga Pretenders or Northern Pretenders, were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392. The present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the Northern Cour ...

Southern Court The were a set of four emperors (Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitively ...

rivalry of the Nanboku-chō period as Go-Daigo fled Kyoto to

Yoshino Yoshino may refer to: * Yoshino cherry, another name for ''Prunus × yedoensis'', a flowering cherry tree * Japanese cruiser Yoshino, Japanese cruiser ''Yoshino'', a protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy Places * Yoshino, Nara, a town ...

Cultural significance

The Battle of Minatogawa and series of battles are recorded with drama and exaggeration of accounts in

Taiheiki The (Chronicle of Great Peace) is a Japanese historical epic (see ''gunki monogatari'') written in the late 14th century and covers the period from 1319 to 1367. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Taiheiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 923� ...

, a historical epic which provides the wealth of information known to this period. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, Kusunoki, despite only commanding a fraction of the Imperial force, became a figure of loyalty for choosing to sacrifice himself for the Imperial family against the impossible odds, with

Tokugawa Mitsukuni , also known as , was a Japanese daimyo who was known for his influence in the politics of the early Edo period. He was the third son of Tokugawa Yorifusa (who in turn was the eleventh son of Tokugawa Ieyasu) and succeeded him, becoming the seco ...

writing the epitaph and

Minatogawa Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Chūō-ku, Kobe, Japan, roughly on the site of the Battle of Minatogawa established in 1872. The enshrined kami is the spirit of Masashige Kusunoki, a military commander. It is one of the Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Resto ...

consecrated on 24 May 1872 to cement his fame. The battle was commonly taught as a

morality tale The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...

until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Goro Nonaka criticized the use of

Ohka The Yokosuka MXY-7 was a purpose-built, rocket-powered human-guided ''kamikaze'' attack aircraft employed by Japan against Allied ships towards the end of the Pacific War during World War II. Although extremely fast, the very short range of t ...

721st Naval Air Group The was an aircraft and airbase garrison unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the Pacific campaign of World War II. This air group was organised for specializes in suicide attack. Another known as God thunder Corps (''Jinrai Butai'') ...

comparing it to this battle as a sign of futility.

References

{{Reflist Minatogawa 1330s in Japan 1336 in Asia Minatogawa

Background

Battle

Cultural significance

See also

References