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Shizugatake Fortification

The Battle of Shizugatake (1583)

The story of the Battle of Shizugatake is often oversimplified. However, the more you dig into it, the more a fascinating game of chess unfolds across the landscape of Northern Omi that would put Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi on the path to Kanpaku.

Prelude to Battle (1582–1583)

On June 27, 1582 (Tenshō 10), the Council of Kiyosu was held in Owari, where the distribution of Oda Nobunaga’s territories was decided following his death at Honnō-ji. Yet this meeting failed to stabilize the political situation—it merely ignited a new power struggle to fill the void Nobunaga left behind.

One of the spoils of this reshuffling was Nagahama Castle, originally built by Hideyoshi, it was now controlled by Shibata Katsuie who placed it under the command of his adopted son Katsutoyo. It must have pained Hideyoshi to see one of his beloved castles controlled by a rival.

Hideyoshi was a tactical master. While Shibata and his allies waited for spring, he seized the initiative.

On December 2, under the cover of snowfall, Hideyoshi attacked Nagahama Castle. Katsutoyo was unable to receive reinforcements from Echizen and soon capitulated to Hideyoshi. On December 20, Hideyoshi captured Gifu Castle, forcing Oda Nobutaka to surrender. In January 1583, Takigawa Kazumasu mounted a counterattack in northern Ise against this Hideyoshi aggression. It was also quickly defeated. Towards Echizen Hideyoshi established an outpost at Tenjinyama Fort to watch over the Hokkoku Kaido and to be on watch for any movement by Shibata.

Shibata must have been chomping at the bit. He was snowed in at Kitanosho Castle and unable to open another front against Hideyoshi. Had the three parties linked up or divided Hideyoshi's attention to multiple fronts, Japanese history may have been very different.

Drawing the Battle lines

By late February, Shibata Katsuie made the bold decision to mobilize, despite lingering snow in the mountains. His advance force arrived at Genbao Castle on March 5th, where they began fortifying and renovating the site to serve as Shibata’s forward field command. When the main force followed, Sakuma Morimasa and other key generals moved to Mount Gyoichi (行市山) to establish Shibata’s primary line of defense.

What followed was the construction of one of the largest and most intricate networks of mountaintop forts and field fortifications seen during the Sengoku period for a single military conflict.

Shibata's Forward Defensive Line

• Gyoichiyama Fort Sakuma Morimasa

The main stronghold atop Mt. Gyoichi, connected to Genbao Castle by a rugged 3.5km ridgeline.

• Besshoyama Fort Maeda Toshiie

Roughly 1km down the steep slope from Gyoichiyama. Its broad, relatively level terrain allowed it to host a large force.

• Tochidaniyama Fort Hara Nagayori

Situated 400 meters downslope from Besshoyama Fort, covering mid-elevation routes.

• Nakataniyama Fort Tokuyama Hideaki and Kanamori Nagachika

500 meters further down, it provided defensive coverage over the southern slope of the mountain.

• Kashiwadani Fort TBD

Positioned across from Nakataniyama Fort, it supported the northern flank.

• Hayashitaniyama Fort Fuwa Naomitsu

500 meters downslope from Nakataniyama, this fort formed a defensive bulwark along the Hokkoku Kaidō with an embankment over 300m long!

The string of forts that formed Shibata’s primary forward line on Mt. Gyoichi was supported by numerous smaller outposts and field fortifications scattered along the Hokkokukaidō. These acted as sentry points, signal posts, and fallback positions, watching for enemy movement from the south and guarding against incursion from the north. Few of their precise locations or ruins remain identifiable today.

Hideyoshi's Defensive Line

While Hideyoshi was engaged in Ise, he received news that Shibata had started to mobilize. Hideyoshi left Ise to Gamo Ujisato and Oda Nobukatsu and took part of his forces to Kinomoto where they arrived on March 17th.

Hideyoshi now turned his attention to the inevitable spring offensive from Shibata. He began creating a defensive network along the Hokkoku Kaidō, the only practical and tactical route for Shibata to reach Omi from Echizen. Hideyoshi's goal was to bottle up Shibata and prevent him even reaching northern Omi.

Shibata Katsuie's top captains heavily fortified the Gyoichiyama Ridgeline extended west to east. Meanwhile, Shibata’s main fortification line extended across the ridge culminating in Mt. Gyoichiyama, anchored by:

- 行市山砦 (Gyōichiyama Toride), built by Sakuma Morimasa - 中谷山砦, 林谷山砦, 橡谷山砦, 柏谷砦, 大谷山砦, and 別所山砦, the last of which was used by Maeda Toshiie and his son Toshinaga

Hideyoshi established his headquarters at Tagamiyama Castle, roughly 10 kilometers south of Genbao, including forces assembled at nearby Kinomoto Jizoin. This became his primary staging area under command of his brother, Hashiba Hidenaga.

Hideyoshi initially created his forward defensive line extending from Tenjinyama Fort to Chausuyama Fort and with Imaichikami Fort across the valley to seal off the corridor.

Hideyoshi's second defensive line was built along the mountain range west of Lake Yogo from the peak of Mt. Shizugatake extending north towards the Hokkoku Kaido, with key forts at Shizugatake Fort, Oiwayama Fort, and Iwasakiyama Fort.

It's interesting to note the size of the mountain ridge between Tenjinyama and Gyochiyama lines in the photo above. Hideyoshi judged Tenjinyama to be too exposed and too close to the Shibata line.He withdrew one ridge southward, constructing new forts at Shinmeiyama (神明山砦), Dōgiyama (堂木山砦), and Shigeyama (茂山砦). To seal the corridor, he built Higashinoyama Castle high on the opposing ridge—the narrowest point of the valley—directly across from Shinmeiyama and Dōgiyama. Between these positions, Hideyoshi constructed a large earthen embankment to physically block the road and fortify the chokepoint at Dōgiyama. Orders were given to not let a single sword past this line.

- Shobudani Fort and Mizodani Fort, guarding the lower flanks of the sougamae system

The Battle of Shizugatake (1583)

In mid-April, Hideyoshi had shifted east to confront Nobutaka (who, despite surrendering earlier, had allied with Takigawa Kazumasu). With Hideyoshi absent, Sakuma Morimasa, Katsuie’s nephew, saw an opening.

On April 19, Morimasa launched a surprise assault on Mt. Shizugatake:

- Ōiwa Fort, held by Nakagawa Kiyohide, fell quickly; Kiyohide was killed. - Iwasaki Fort, held by Takayama Ukon, was also lost under pressure. - Morimasa then laid siege to Shizugatake itself.

Despite Katsuie’s orders to retreat and consolidate, Morimasa refused. He believed Hideyoshi would need three days to return from Gifu, giving him time to capture Shizugatake without further risk.

But on April 20, Hideyoshi received news of the attack—and moved immediately. That night, thousands of torches lit up the base of the mountain. Hideyoshi’s army had marched over 50km in under six hours. The feat became legendary as the Great Minoh Return (美濃大返し).

At dawn on April 21, Hideyoshi launched a full assault. Despite being isolated deep in enemy territory, Sakuma’s army resisted fiercely, and the battle dissolved into intense close-quarters fighting. Seeing Hideyoshi shift his attack toward Shibata Katsumasa, Sakuma attempted to pursue—escalating the chaos. Then, crucially, Maeda Toshiie’s forces began to withdraw, creating panic across the Shibata lines.

Hideyoshi seized the opportunity. The Shibata army collapsed. Soldiers fled, abandoning weapons and armor. Sakuma Morimasa was captured and executed. Back at Kitanosho, Shibata Katsuie—betrayed, defeated, and cornered—set fire to his castle and committed suicide alongside Oichi, Nobunaga’s sister.

The flags and lines in the following map are all clickable. Click through each for more details about the battles lines and castles.

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Legacy of the Shizugatake Castles

In Japanese, the use of fort (toride 砦) vs. castle (城) differs widely for some of these locations. There is no common rule for naming. Naming some of these locations as forts does not mean they are any less interesting nor well developed. In fact I think it's amazing how intricately they were created in such a short time. They are certainly bigger and employ more advanced techniques than some castles I have visited. The Hideyoshi forts in particular showcase many features typical of the "shokuhoukei" castles and fortifications of the period. The castles profiled here were largely abandoned following the battle. Genbao Castle, Tagamiyama Castle, and Higashinoyama Castle in particular excellently preserve the fortifications and strategy of castles at that time. They are worth visiting for any castle fans.

Apart from Genbao Castle, there are some significant differences between the Shibata fortifications and those of Hideyoshi which may be traced to their purpose as well. The Shibata positions formed a simple battle line and often lack the complex defensive. They served to fortify key positions of troops looking to break through the Hideyoshi blockade and reach into Northern Omi to further attack Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi on the other hand only had to bottle up the Shibata forces and prevent them getting through. They were prepared for an extended siege and had two full defensive lines to prevent Shibata's incursion. Hideyoshi's allies could defend their positions for the long term which is why we see much more intricate castle structures and satellite forts.

(1) While some may argue that the Battle of Komaki Nagakute was more important: it was longer, bigger and pitted Hideyoshi against the eventual Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, I think the Battle of Shizugatake was more critical to Hideyoshi. It established him as the pre-eminent military general in the post-Oda power vacuum. It was a decisive victory against the strongest military rival at the time and won him allies like Maeda Toshiie who tipped the scales of military and political power towards Hideyoshi. The Battle of Komaki Nagakute essentially ended in stalemate. Ieyasu won a tactical victory but an uneasy peace was eventually negotiated and Ieyasu retained his lands and titles in a cold alliance until Hideyoshi could push him out to Edo following the Siege of Odawara (1590).

Field Notes

This brief article marks the culmination of six trips to the Yogo region over two years (Apr ’23–Apr ’25). For various reasons, I wasn’t able to complete them all in a single season—the weather is unpredictable, with heavy snowfalls that often linger on the mountaintops well into spring, just as they once did during the actual campaigns! I was also researching as I went, adjusting plans and making exploratory forays to confirm certain sites along the way.

There are still a few places I would have liked to reach, but with enough ground covered and the key locations documented, I finally had the material needed to shape a coherent narrative. So, here we are. I will revisit the region in the future to document some of the smaller outlying forts but they are mostly one-off's that would require a full day just to reach one small site.

With a bit of hiking and light mountaineering, all the sites profiled here were fairly accessible. Trail conditions varied, but nothing was unreasonably difficult—except perhaps the steep and slippery slope from Besshōyama to Gyoichiyama, which I ultimately had to give up on. (I was also recovering from an injury and running out of time after spending too long at the lower forts!)

I loved the map signboards at many sites, all in the same distinctive style created by researcher Hiromi Hasegawa. He should really have a book of his own on the area!

Public transportation in this region is nearly non-existent. I made all these visits by renting a bicycle from either Yogo Station or Kinomoto Station. For more on access and hiking conditions, see the individual castle profiles.

Bibliography

The following materials were referenced in creating the castle profiles and understanding the historical landscape for this article. Some of the assumptions above about individual castle purposes and the motivations of the key players are my own based on extensive reading and may not be explicitly stated elsewhere.