Siege of Kanegasaki (1570)

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Siege of Kanegasaki (1570)

In the Sengoku period, Oda Nobunaga fought the Asakura clan in Echizen Province, who were allied with Azai Nagamasa. When Asakura Yoshikage refused Nobunaga’s invitation to a banquet in Kyoto, Nobunaga saw it as disloyal and moved to confront them. Tokugawa Ieyasu and his forces joined Nobunaga, and on April 25 they captured Mount Tenzutsu Castle, killing many enemies. The next day Kanegasaki Castle, held by Maeba Yoshitsugu, was besieged. Nobunaga’s assault was led by Kinoshita Tōkichirō (later known as Hashiba Hideyoshi) with Sassa Narimasa’s troops providing support with horsemen and firearms.

Azai Nagamasa sent relief forces to Kanegasaki. Realizing he was surrounded, Nobunaga decided to retreat. Ikeda Katsumasa led about 3,000 soldiers to help him escape, while Akechi Mitsuhide and Tōkichirō served as the rear guard. This retreat is seen as Nagamasa’s betrayal of the Oda clan. Nobunaga escaped death that day and later defeated the Azai-Asakura alliance at the Battle of Anegawa. Kinoshita Tōkichirō’s defense of the retreat became a legendary achievement for Nobunaga’s forces.