INTERACTIVE BATTLE
Battle of Mikatagahara
25 January 1573 · Mikatagahara and Saigagake, Totomi Province
Marching west, Takeda Shingen entered Totomi and passed by Hamamatsu castle without attacking it. Drawn out, Tokugawa Ieyasu was caught on the Mikatagahara plateau and suffered one of the heaviest defeats of his life.
Background
Shingen had set out west with an eye on Oda Nobunaga, entering the Tokugawa lands of Totomi and Mikawa first. Ieyasu held Hamamatsu castle, but the difference in numbers was wide and the help sent from the Oda was limited.
Outcome
The Tokugawa army broke and Ieyasu fled back to Hamamatsu with a handful of men. That night a raid is said to have been made on the Takeda at Saigagake.
Course of the battle
1 November–December 1572
Takeda Shingen invades Totomi
Shingen left Kofu and entered the Tokugawa lands of Totomi. He drove back the Tokugawa at Hitokotozaka and closed on Futamata castle.
Points of debate
This falls in the 10th lunar month, for which the conversion to the Western calendar could not be fixed.
Sources12·Certainty: Medium
2 22 January 1573
Futamata castle falls
Cut off from its water supply, Futamata castle surrendered after two months under siege. The key position in northern Totomi passed to the Takeda.
Joins the attack on Futamata castle
Sources12·Certainty: Medium
3 25 January 1573
The Takeda pass by Hamamatsu castle
Leaving Futamata, the Takeda marched west without attacking Hamamatsu castle. Ieyasu, who should have stayed behind its walls, saw the move and came out.
Points of debate
Views differ on whether he took the bait or was refusing to let his province be crossed unopposed.
Leaves Hamamatsu castle in pursuit
Sources12·Certainty: Disputed
4 evening, 25 January 1573
The Tokugawa break on Mikatagahara
Waiting on the plateau, the Takeda fell on the pursuing Tokugawa. Drawn up in a fish-scale formation, the Takeda broke them completely.
Sources13·Certainty: High
5 night of 25 January 1573
A night raid at Saigagake
The routed Tokugawa are said to have raided the Takeda resting near Saigagake after dark, and many men and horses to have fallen down the ravine.
Points of debate
The tale of the cloth bridge is heavily coloured by tradition.
Joins the night raid at Saigagake
Sources13·Certainty: Traditional account
6 night of 25 January 1573
Ieyasu escapes back to Hamamatsu castle
Ieyasu returned with a handful of men and is said to have left the gates standing open. The Takeda did not attack the castle and went on west.
Points of debate
The story told as the "empty castle ruse" owes much to later retelling.
Flees back to Hamamatsu castle
Sources12·Certainty: Traditional account
Historical significance
The battle is remembered as the day Ieyasu learned the strength of the Takeda at first hand. Shingen died of illness the next year and the westward campaign ended unfinished.
Key figures
武田氏
3
Commander-in-chief of the Takeda
Entered Totomi on his march west and beat the Tokugawa at Mikatagahara.
Sources1·Certainty: High
Takeda commander
Led a division of the Takeda army.
Sources1·Certainty: Medium
Takeda commander
Served in the invasion of Totomi, taking Tadaraki castle among others.
Sources1·Certainty: Medium
徳川氏
3
Commander-in-chief of the Tokugawa
Left Hamamatsu castle in pursuit, was heavily beaten, and fled back to the castle.
Sources1·Certainty: High
Other events of 1573
Notes on the data
Dates are given in the Western (Julian) calendar. The 22nd day of the 12th month of Genki 3 falls in the following Western year, 25 January 1573; the battle is therefore filed under 1573 rather than under Genki 3 (1572), by which name it is usually known. The start of the invasion of Totomi falls in the 10th lunar month, for which no conversion could be fixed, and is given to the month only.
Sources consulted
- Wikipedia「三方ヶ原の戦い」
- 城郭マスタ（shiro.geojson）
- 浜松市「犀ヶ崖古戦場」（浜松城跡の西北約1キロメートルとの記述から導出）
- 磐田市観光協会「一言坂の戦跡（古戦場）」
- 地理院地図 住所検索（静岡県磐田市一言）
The numbers in the text refer to the list above. Certainty indicates how far a statement is supported by the cited sources; it does not refer to the precision of the coordinates or the dating.
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