Siege of Edo
In the
1524 siege of Edo, also known as the
battle of Takanawahara, the
Hōjō, led by
Hōjō Ujitsuna, besieged
Edo castle, which was held by
Uesugi Tomooki. Though Edo has since become the Japanese metropolis of
Tokyo, it was then a more or less insignificant fishing village in the
Kanto plain.
Eager to repel the attackers, Uesugi Tomooki led his warriors out of the castle to meet the Hōjō in battle at the Takanawa river crossing. However, Ujitsuna led his men around the Uesugi force and attacked them from the rear. Retreating back to his castle, Tomooki found that the commander of his garisson,
Ōta Suketada, had betrayed him and opened the gates to the Hōjō.
This battle would mark the beginning of a seventeen-year struggle between the Hōjō and Uesugi clans for dominance of the Kanto.
*Turnbull, Stephen (2002). 'War in Japan: 1467-1615'. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
