Battle of Dōmyōji
On June 5, 1615, the Eastern Army of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Osaka Army of Toyotomi Hideyori clashed in battle at Dōmyōji (道明寺の戦い; Dōmyōji no tatakai), Osaka. This battle was one of Japan's major historical battles between samurai forces. This battle was one of a number of battles that took place during the Summer Campaign of the Siege of Osaka that led up to the fall of Osaka to the forces of Tokugawa and the death of Toyotomi Hideyori.
| Battle of Dōmyōji | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Siege of Osaka | |||||||
Gotō Mototsugu and Sanada Yukimura during the battle, by Utagawa Toyonobu | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Tokugawa shogunate | Toyotomi clan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Mizuno Katsushige Honda Tadamasa Matsudaira Tadaaki Date Masamune Murakami Yoshiaki Tokugawa Tadateru Mizoguchi Nobukatsu |
Gotō Mototsugu † Susukida Kanesuke † Yamamoto Kimio Inoue Tokotoshi Makishima Shigetoshi Sanada Yukimura Kitagawai Nobukatsu Yamagawa Katanobu Akashi Morishige Fukushima Masamori Watanabe Tadasu Ogura Yukiharu Otani Yoshihisa Nagaoka Masachika Igi Tokatsu Miyata Tokisada Mori Katsunaga | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 34,300 | 18,400 | ||||||
Location within Japan | |||||||
A vanguard force ahead of the Osaka Army was commanded by Gotō Mototsugu. He had with him a force of 2,800 samurai and his mission was to guard against the arrival of elements of The Eastern Army. The eastern border of Osaka is protected by a natural border known as the Ikoma Mountains. Gotō was given the task of guarding the area near Komatsu-yama, a hilly area located near one of very few mountain passes. This pass in the range is created by the Yamato River, which runs just north of Komatsu-yama. He had planned to occupy the high ground provided by the slopes of Komatsu-yama and prevent the enemy from freely entering the flat plains of Osaka that exist once past the mountain.