10 Amazing Rarely Mentioned Battles Of Japan's Civil War Era
9. Second Battle Of Azukizaka (1548)
Even people who don't study Japanese history have heard of the famous battle of Okehazama in 1560, when a young upstart named Nobunaga led the Oda clan to a surprise victory to topple the more powerful Imagawa clan. But a much earlier battle between those two clans takes place at Azukizaka.
Nobunaga's father, Nobuhide, had won a battle against the Imagawa in the same location in 1542. But now it was a fight to win control of the local Matsudaira clan – a clan that at that time no one suspected would eventually unite the country 60 years later.
On the Oda side was Nobuhide, himself, with four-thousand soldiers, as well as the fact that he had kidnapped the Matusdaira's heir to force their support. Sadly for him he was put up against the Imagawa lord's famous uncle, Taigen Sessai, and the fact that the Matsudaira patriarch didn't bother to save his son.
Sessai chose the position of battle perfectly and led the Oda army into a disastrous defeat. So disastrous was it that Sessai was able to continue the campaign the following year and retake what ground the Oda had already won – after Nobuhide's death.