Battle of Kōnodai (1564)

In the second battle of Kōnodai, fought in 1564, Hōjō Ujiyasu led his men to victory against Satomi Yoshihiro. Both Ujiyasu and Yoshihiro were the sons of the commanders at the first battle of Kōnodai, in which Hōjō Ujitsuna defeated the combined forces of Satomi Yoshitaka and Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Battle of Kōnodai
Part of the Sengoku period
Date1564
Location
Result Decisive Hōjō victory
Belligerents
forces of Hōjō Ujiyasu forces of Satomi Yoshihiro
Commanders and leaders
Hōjō Ujiyasu
Hōjō Ujimasa
Hōjō Tsunashige
Satomi Yoshihiro
Satomi Chokuro 
Strength
20,000 8,000

Outnumbered 20,000 to 8,000, Satomi fell back when the Hōjō vanguard advanced. But this was a feint, and an attempt to draw his enemy into a trap. However, Hōjō Ujiyasu expected a trap of this sort, and had sent his son, Ujimasa, with a small force to attack the Satomi rear, surrounding, and later Ujiyasu defeated Yoshitaka.

Hōjō Ujiyasu celebrated his victory with a poem:

Conquering the foe
As I wished at Kōnodai
Now do I behold
The evening sunshine of Katsuura


In the ensuing battle, Satomi saw his son Chokuro killed by Matsuda Yasuyoshi, a Hōjō retainer; after the battle, feeling remorse at killing such a young boy, Matsuda entered the clergy.

References

  • Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.
  • Turnbull, Stephen (2002). 'War in Japan: 1467-1615'. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.


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