Battle of Suriagehara

Battle of Suriagehara (摺上原の戦い, Suriagehara no tatakai) was a battle during the Sengoku period (16th century) of Japan. It was fought at a field called Suriagehara, whose modern location is split between the towns of Inawashiro and Bandai in Fukushima Prefecture.

Battle of Suriagehara
Part of Date Masamune's Consolidation of Power in Southern Mutsu
DateJuly 17, 1589
Location
Suriagehara, Mutsu Province, Japan (modern day Inawashiro and Bandai in Fukushima Prefecture)
Result Decisive Date victory and confirmation of control over southern Mutsu
Belligerents
Date clan
Katakura clan		 Ashina clan
Satake clan
Nikaidō clan
Commanders and leaders
Date Masamune
Date Shigezane
Katakura Kagetsuna
Oniniwa Tsunamoto		 Satake Yoshinobu
Satake Yoshishige
Onamihime
Strength
23,000 16,000
Casualties and losses
500 1,800

Battle

The Battle of Suriagehara served as the aftermath of the Siege of Kurokawa, in which Satake Yoshinobu with his 16,000 men stole the moment to enact revenge for their previous defeat at Kurokawa Castle.

Date Masamune, with his superior 23,000 troops, defeated the Ashina.[1] While some Ashina forces withdrew across the Nippashi River to Kurokawa, the bridge gave out amidst their retreat, leaving many Ashina troops to be cut down when the Date forces overtook them. According to the 17th century text Ōū Eikei Gunki, there were around 500 Ashina troops killed at the Nippashi River alone.

Aftermath

This battle helped seal the Date clan's hegemony over southern Mutsu Province. However, despite the victory, resistance after the battle continued, notably from the pro-Ashina, Nikaidō and Ishikawa clans.

The battle later served as the basis for the Noh play "Suriage." According to local lore, the Tohoku folk song "Sansa Shigure" was written by Masamune in the celebrations following this Date victory.

References
  1. Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. London: Cassell & Co. p. 241. ISBN 9781854095237.
  • Date Shigezane. Shigezane-ki. pp. 207-329 of Sendai Sōsho Volume 3. Sendai: Sendai Sōsho Kankōkai, 1923.

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