Siege of Odawara (1561)

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First Siege of Odawara
Part of Sengoku period
One corner tower of Odawara Castle today
Date 1561 Location Odawara Castle, Sagami Province, Japan Result Uesugi withdrawal, castle town burned
Combatants
Uesugi clan forces	Hōjō clan forces
Commanders
Uesugi Kenshin	Unknown

Campaigns of the Hōjō
Arai - Edo - Nashinokidaira - Kamakura - Ozawahara - Musashi-Matsuyama 1537 - Kōnodai 1538 - Kawagoe - Odawara 1561 - Musashi-Matsuyama 1563 - Kōnodai 1564 - Hachigata 1568 - Odawara 1569 - Mimasetoge - Kanbara - Nirayama - Fukazawa - Omosu - Kanagawa - Hachigata 1590 - Odawara 1590 - Shimoda - Oshi

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

Uesugi Kenshin was at the height of his campaign against the Hōjō clan, as he captured several of their castles. In 1561 he besieged the Hōjō's Odawara Castle. The Uesugi breached the defenses, and burned the castle town. The castle itself however, remained unconquered; 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.

This ended the first of three sieges of the Odawara castle.

[edit] Reference

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