The 1333 siege of Chihaya took place during the final year of Japan's

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

. It was one of several battles of the

Genkō War The , also known as the , was a civil war fought in Japan between the Emperor Go-Daigo and the Kamakura Shogunate from 1331 to 1333. The Genkō War was named after Genkō (second), Genkō, the Japanese era name, Japanese era corresponding to the ...

, in which

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 ...

sought to eliminate the power of the

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this period ...

regents. Chihaya-jō (千早城, Chihaya fortress) was built atop Mt. Kongō, in

Kawachi province was a province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in the past, with Kawachi ...

, in 1332. Successfully defended the following year by the Imperial forces 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 ...

, it would eventually fall to the

Ashikaga shogunate The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669. The Ashikaga shogunate was establ ...

in 1390. Kusunoki Masashige's defense of this fortress became a very classic siege in Japanese history. This was because both the Imperial garrison and the besieging force of the Hōjō demonstrated high levels of siegecraft. Kusunoki's success here made up for his loss two years earlier at the

siege of Akasaka The siege of Akasaka was one of the earlier battles of the Genkō War between the figurehead Emperor Godaigo and the largely Hōjō controlled Kamakura shogunate during the final years of the Kamakura period in Japan. The battle in question was ...

, where surrender was forced by the denial of water supplies. Unlike at Akasaka, however, Kusunoki made sure that Chihaya could stand effectively against many attacks, which included the Hōjō's use of movable bridges and fire. Kusunoki also employed many strategies such as dummy troops, and surprise raids. The fortress' position near the summit of the mountain further aided in its defense, allowing Kusunoki's inferior numbers to not be a hindrance in such limited space. His forces employed their superior knowledge of the ridges and ravines of the area to great effect, ending in a successful defense and the enemy's retreat once they learned of the collapse of the Hojo Rokuhara troops in Kyoto.

References

*Frederic, Louis (2002). "Japan Encyclopedia." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chihaya 1330s in Japan 1333 in Asia Battles involving Japan Sieges involving Japan Genkō War Conflicts in 1333