The siege of Hataya was one of several battles in Japan's

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

which served as preludes to the decisive

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 sparked ...

which would end the 250-year period of war known as

Sengoku The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various s ...

Naoe Kanetsugu was a Japanese samurai of the 16th–17th centuries. The eldest son of Higuchi Kanetoyo, Kanetsugu was famed for his service to two generations of the Uesugi ''daimyōs''. He was also known by his court title, Yamashiro no Kami (山城守) or ...

Uesugi Kagekatsu was a Japanese samurai ''daimyō'' during the Sengoku and Edo periods. He was the adopted son of Uesugi Kenshin and Uesugi Kagetora’s brother in law. Early life and rise Kagekatsu was the son of Nagao Masakage, the head of the Ueda Nagao c ...

's general loyal to

Ishida Mitsunari Ishida Mitsunari (, 1559 – November 6, 1600) was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the A ...

, attacked Hataya castle on his way to pursue

Mogami Yoshiaki was a ''daimyō'' of the Yamagata Domain in Dewa Province, in the late Sengoku and early Edo periods. Known as "Fox of Dewa". Biography Mogami Yoshiaki was the first son of Mogami Yoshimori ( 最上義守), of the Mogami clan and succeeded hi ...

Yamagata Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Yamagata Castle in what is now the city of Yamagata. Unlike some ''han'' whose control was relatively stable throughout ...

, His force was 20,000 strong, against the 300 man of Mogami garrison under Eguchi Gohei. The garrison have come to be celebrated in various chronicles for their brief, but brave, defense against such incredible odds.

References

* Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co. Hataya Hataya 1600 in Japan Conflicts in 1600 {{Japan-battle-stub