The 1553 siege of Katsurao was one of many sieges undertaken by the warlord

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

in his long campaign to gain control of Japan's

Shinano province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

, which was ruled by a hodgepodge of minor ''daimyō'', notably the Suwa, Ogasawara, and Takato. Shingen mounted his first invasion of Shinano in 1542 and steadily worked his way northwards, defeating the Suwa and Takato by 1547. His inexorable advance through the province alarmed the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branch ...

, which controlled

Echigo province was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Echigo''" in . It corresponds today to Niigata ...

to the north, and in 1547

Uesugi Norimasa was a ''daimyō'' of feudal Japan from Yamanouchi branch Uesugi clan and held the post of Kantō Kanrei, the ''shōgun''s deputy in the Kantō region. He was the adoptive father of Uesugi Kenshin, one of the most famous warlords in Japanese his ...

sent an army into the province to confront Shingen, but this was swept aside at Odaihara. At this point the Murakami and Ogasawara finally entered the fray, and

Murakami Yoshikiyo Murakami Yoshikiyo (村上義清, 1501–1573) was a Japanese samurai from the and retainer of the Uesugi clan during the Sengoku period of the 16th century. Yoshikiyo followed in fighting against both Takeda Nobutora and his son Takeda Shingen ...

succeeded in defeating Shingen at Uedahara (1548), but Shingen regrouped and went back on the offensive. Identifying Yoshikiyo as the greater threat, he decided to concentrate his initial efforts on the weaker Ogasawara, and in 1550 he seized their principal castle at Fukashi, in modern

Matsumoto Matsumoto (松本 or 松元, "base of the pine tree") may refer to: Places * Matsumoto, Nagano (松本市), a city ** Matsumoto Airport, an airport southwest of Matsumoto, Nagano * Matsumoto, Kagoshima (松元町), a former town now part of the c ...

, forcing their ''daimyo''

Ogasawara Nagatoki (November 9, 1519 – April 17, 1583) was a Japanese samurai ''daimyō'' of Shinano Province in the Sengoku period. Turnbull, Stephen. (2013)''Kawanakajima 1553–64: Samurai Power Struggle'', P. 54 In 1542, Shinano Province was invaded by Taked ...

to flee and seek sanctuary with his ally

at Katsurao. Takeda Shingen then turned his attention to the Murakami, and after some difficulty succeeded in reducing their stronghold at Tosihi in 1551. After another two years of gruelling fighting the Takeda were finally ready to move against Katsurao itself, and Shingen entrusted the task to his brother

Takeda Nobushige was a samurai of Japan's Sengoku period, and younger brother of Takeda Shingen. He was known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". Takeda Nobushige held the favor of their father, and was meant to inherit the Takeda lands, we ...

and son

Takeda Yoshinobu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Born Takeda Tarō (武田太郎), he was the son of Takeda Shingen, by Shingen's wife, . He came of age in 1550, and took the formal name of Yoshinobu, receiving the "yoshi" from the 13th Ashikag ...

. In the end Murakami resistance melted away, and uncle and nephew succeeded in reducing Katsurao after just seven days of fighting.

Aftermath

The fall of Katsurao broke the back of Murakami resistance to the Takeda, and most of the clan's followers subsequently went over to Shingen, while its leadership scrambled to escape

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

. According to legend, in the aftermath of the siege Yoshikyo's wife found herself caught up in a stream of refugees attempting to get across the

Chikuma River The , known as the in its upper reaches, is the longest and widest river in Japan and the third largest by basin area (behind the Tone River and Ishikari River). It is located in northeastern Honshu, rising in the Japanese Alps and flowing g ...

, and struggled to find a place on one of the ferries as the boatmen did not recognise her. Only after she had removed her hairpin and let her hair down did one of them realise that she was a noblewoman, whereupon he helped her get across the river to safety. As for Yoshikyo himself, he escaped into

, where he found refuge with the local lord

Uesugi Kenshin , later known as was a Japanese ''daimyō''. He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Known as ...

. The fall of the Murakami convinced Kenshin that he would have to intervene in Shinano to prevent Shingen seizing control of the entire province, and his resulting invasions led to the famous

Battles of Kawanakajima The were a series of battles fought in the Sengoku period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province from 1553 to 1564. Shingen and Kenshin contested each other for control of the plain of Kawanakaj ...

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co. {{DEFAULTSORT:Katsurao Sieges involving Japan Battles of the Sengoku period 1553 in Japan Conflicts in 1553