Kyushu Campaign

• Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Môri clan et al vs. Shimazu clan, Ôtomo clan, Akizuki clan et al
  • Japanese: 九州征伐 (Kyûshû seibatsu)
  • Period: 1587
  • Place: Kyûshû

Hideyoshi's Invasion of Kyushu

Kyûshû Campaign Takajô - Hetsugigawa – Ganjaku – Akizuki – Sendaigawa – Kagoshima

Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Kyûshû Campaign of 1587 was part of his efforts to gain control of Japan at the end of the Sengoku period. Having subjugated much of Honshû and Shikoku, and with his eye on invading Korea, Hideyoshi turned his attention to the southernmost of the main Japanese islands, Kyûshû, in 1587.

Battles had raged for the previous few years between the daimyô of Kyûshû, and by 1587 the Shimazu clan of Satsuma were the primary power on the island. In 1586, hearing of Hideyoshi's plans for invasion, they lifted their siege of Tachibana castle, withdrawing a great portion of their forces back to Higo province, while the rest stayed in Bungo province. There, they seized Funai castle from the Ôtomo clan and prepared for the invasion.

The Ôtomo were supported by armies under Sengoku Hidehisa and Chôsokabe Motochika, a major Shikoku lord who had been defeated by Hideyoshi the previous year, and had thus pressed into service. Though Bungo province ultimately fell to the Shimazu. Sengoku and Chôsokabe delayed the Shimazu, however, and weakened them in preparation for the arrival of Hideyoshi's armies and those of the Môri clan, another of Hideyoshi's allies.

The island of Kyûshû, with modern-day Kagoshima prefecture, roughly corresponding to the Shimazu clan's home province of Satsuma highlighted.

Hashiba Hidenaga, half-brother to Hideyoshi, landed to the south of Bungo, attacking the Shimazu at Takajô, on Kyûshû's eastern coast, in 1587. Meanwhile, Hideyoshi took his own forces down a more westerly route, attacking Ganjaku castle in Chikuzen province, which was held by the Akizuki clan. Later that year, the two brothers would meet up in the Shimazu's home province of Satsuma, to assault their home castle at Kagoshima. Ultimately, Kagoshima itself was not attacked; the Shimazu surrendered, leaving Hideyoshi to return his attention to the Hôjô clan of the Kantô, the last major clan to oppose him.

Hideyoshi would make use of Kyûshû through much of the 1590s in his attacks on Korea.

Battles of the Kyûshû Campaign

1586

• Siege of Toshimitsu - the Shimazu seize Toshimitsu and Funai castles from the Ôtomo, despite delaying tactics from Hideyoshi's allies.
• Battle of Hetsugigawa - Sengoku, Ôtomo, and Chôsokabe continue to battle and delay the Shimazu, but ultimately retreat, leaving Bungo province to the Shimazu.

1587

• Battle of Takajô (also called Takashiro) - Hashiba Hidenaga attacks the Shimazu in Hyûga province, forcing them to retreat to Satsuma.
• Siege of Ganjaku - Toyotomi Hideyoshi attacks the Akizuki clan in the north of Kyûshû.
• Siege of Akizuki - Hideyoshi continues his assault on the Akizuki by sieging Oguma castle; the Akizuki surrender.
• Battle of Sendaigawa (also called Chidorigawa) - Hideyoshi and Hidenaga join forces and begin their attack on Satsuma.
• Siege of Kagoshima - Hideyoshi and Hidenaga surround the Shimazu capital, and earn a surrender without laying siege to the castle.

Reference

This article was written by User:LordAmeth and contributed to both S-A and Wikipedia; the author gives permission for the initial text (of June 22, 2007) to be used in this way.

• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.