The was a small fortification attached to

Osaka castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Layout The main tower ...

. It is famous for being impregnable and playing a key role in defending the castle in the winter of 1615. Later, it was forcefully destroyed despite being exempt from the reconciliation condition.

Background

was built on the Uemachi plateau enclosed by the

Yodo River The , also called the Seta River (瀬田川 ''Seta-gawa'') and the Uji River (宇治川 ''Uji-gawa'') at portions of its route, is the principal river in Osaka Prefecture on Honshu, Japan. The source of the river is Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefectur ...

and the

Yamato River The is a river which flows through Nara Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is designated Class A by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). The river flows via towns: *Nara Prefecture ** Yamatokōriyama *Os ...

. It was well fortified to the north but weakly guarded to the southern Tennōji plateau.

Sanada Yukimura , also known as , was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. He was especially known as the leading general on the defending side of the Siege of Osaka. Yukimura was called "A Hero who may appear once in a hundred years", "Crimson D ...

build the fortification in front of the outer

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

, at the Kuruwa port, at the southeastern Hirano-guchi (平野口) gate and beside the Kuromon-guchi (黒門口) gate. Due to its position, Sanada Maru became an obstacle to the main Tokugawa force during the

Siege of Osaka The was a series of battles undertaken by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (winter campaign and summer campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege ...

. By 1615, after its destruction, the tower keep era had reached its peak and construction declined with the establishment of the '' Pax Tokugawa'', which lasted until the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

in the late 19th century.

History

In 1614, Osaka castle, the stronghold of the

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary un ...

, represented the last obstacle to Japan's unification under the Tokugawa hegemony.

Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's second son. The birth of Hideyori cre ...

appointed Sanada Yukimura as the garrison commander due to his experience opposing

Ieyasu was the founder and first '' shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and f ...

's army in his castle at Ueda during the

Sekigahara campaign The Sekigahara Campaign was a series of battles in Japan fought between the Eastern Army aligned with Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Western Army loyal to Ishida Mitsunari, culminating in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. The conflict was sparke ...

. At that time the castle had two moats, which still exist, and Hideyori's

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

created an outer moat by cutting a channel between the canal that existed to the west and the Nekoma stream which flowed from south to north on the eastern side. The following campaign and battle is often referred to as the last stand of the

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

before the Tokugawa shogunate reformed the ways of the samurai including prohibiting practices like

headhunting Headhunting is the practice of hunting a human and collecting the severed head after killing the victim, although sometimes more portable body parts (such as ear, nose or scalp) are taken instead as trophies. Headhunting was practiced in hi ...

. ''Samurai: Japan's Way of the Warrior''
Tom O'Neill, National Geographic Magazine, December, 2003 The attack on Sanada Maru began on December 4. Yukimura and about 6-7,000 men defended Sanada Maru against Tokugawa forces of approximately 10-30,000 men. The Tokugawa forces were repeatedly repelled, and Sanada's troops launched a number of counterattacks, even breaking through the siege lines. By December 18, all the outlying forts and waterways had fallen but the Sanada Maru proved impregnable. As a stockade had been built, Ieyasu began to starve out the huge castle. However, supplies were sufficient to feed everyone for several years. Ieyasu then resorted to

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

bombardment. Sakers fired from the north, no less than 300

culverin A culverin was initially an ancestor of the hand-held arquebus, but later was used to describe a type of medieval and Renaissance cannon. The term is derived from the French "''couleuvrine''" (from ''couleuvre'' "grass snake", following the La ...

s blasted from the south, and more culverins firing from the north and the east were able to do considerable damage. While long-range culverins kept up a bombardment, miners began digging in an attempt to weaken the walls. As there were still uncommitted clans who might be tempted to attack the Tokugawa from the rear, time was on the side of Hideyori. Ieyasu used the steadily improving bombardment to pressure for peace negotiation. Hideyori accepted a peace formula whereby the Tokugawa army would withdraw and Osaka castle would remain in Hideyori's hand under the provision of no further "rebellion" against the Tokugawa Shōgun. Many Tokugawa troops did not leave but instead worked to fill in the outer moat. Hideyori protested but by the time, a week later, Ieyasu agreed that these had indeed not been included in the peace agreement the outer moat had ceased to exist, and his men were turning to the second moat.

Location

The place where Sanada Maru was located is north of the Sanadayama Park. It was originally a little hill which was recessed in the center. Today it is a small underdeveloped plot of land in an urbanized area. A partial moat and bridge are present. Just south of it is Sanada High School.

Structure

Sanada Maru was an earthwork

barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

with a simple two-storey wooden wall on top with firing platforms augmented with other simple means of defense like

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

s. A dry

offered additional defence. Cannons were placed along the walls, together with firebomb-projecting mangonels. Defended by the Sanada samurai clan it may be classified as a

yagura Yagura may refer to: * Yagura castle * Yagura opening * Yagura (tombs) * Yagura (tower) is the Japanese word for "tower", "turret", "keep", or "scaffold". The word is most often seen in reference to structures in Japanese castle compounds bu ...

, although only in the spirit rather than technical accuracy. As essentially a temporary structure it was not copied elsewhere.

Film, television, and theatrical adaptations

''Sanada Maru'' has appeared in part or in full for different media including stage, screen and radio. These adaptations include: * A 2016 Japanese drama, ''

Sanada Maru The was a small fortification attached to Osaka castle. It is famous for being impregnable and playing a key role in defending the castle in the winter of 1615. Later, it was forcefully destroyed despite being exempt from the reconciliation con ...

'' for

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

, starring

Masato Sakai is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 31st Yokohama Film Festival for ''The Wonderful World of Captain Kuhio'' and ''The Chef of South Polar'' and the award for best supporting actor at the 2008 Nikkan Sports Film Award, at ...

References

External links

{{Coord, 34, 40, 23, N, 135, 31, 44, E, region:JP_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Osaka Special Historic Sites Osaka Castle Sanada clan Castles in Osaka Prefecture