Siege of Odawara (1561)

For other battles with this name, see Siege of Odawara.

In the 1561 siege of Odawara, a battle of Japan's Sengoku period, Uesugi Kenshin attacked Odawara castle. This was the first of several sieges which would befall Odawara castle, the home castle of the Hōjō clan.

First Siege of Odawara
Part of Sengoku period
One corner tower of Odawara Castle today
Date 1561 Location Odawara Castle, Sagami Province, Japan 35°15′2.99″N 139°9′13.00″E Result Hōjō victory Uesugi withdrawal, castle town burned
Belligerents
Uesugi clan forces	Hōjō clan forces
Commanders and leaders
Uesugi Kenshin Uesugi Norimasa Satomi Yoshihiro Oda Ujiharu Utsunomiya Hirotsuna Satake Yoshiaki Oyama Hidetsuna Nasu Suketane Ōta Sukemasa Mita Tsunahide Narita Nagayasu	Hōjō Ujiyasu Hōjō Ujimasa Hōjō Ujiteru Hōjō Tsunashige
Strength
90,000–113,000[1]	15,000
Location within Kanagawa Prefecture Show map of Kanagawa Prefecture Siege of Odawara (1561) (Japan) Show map of Japan

Background

In 1559, Kenshin was pushed once again by Uesugi Norimasa to take control of the Kantō back from the Hōjō, and in 1560 he was able to comply. In August of the same year, he put southern Echigo under control of a five-man council for broad mobilization, as well formed a small investigative council for any kind of unrest.^[2] In 1561 he marched to Odawara.

Siege

Uesugi Kenshin was at the height of his campaign against the Hōjō clan, as he captured several of their castles. Kenshin was successful in taking a number of castles from the Hojo clan, like Numata Castle and Umayabashi Castle.^[3]

Later, Kenshin besieged the Hōjō's main castle, Odawara Castle. The Uesugi breached the defenses, and burned the castle town. However, Kenshin would withdraw after two months. This came as the result of a lack of adequate supplies, and the reappearance of Takeda Shingen, Kenshin's long-time rival, who was threatening his territories.

Aftermath

The Odawara castle itself however remained unconquered; this ended the first of three sieges of the Odawara castle.