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The Battle of Mimigawa was a battle between warlords Tawara Chikataka and Shimazu Yoshihisa in 1578. The Shimazu, following their conquest of the Hyuga province, began to mobilized their armies and prepare for another attack. Meanwhile, the Tawara clan saw this as a threat and decided that they must take action. Tawara Chikataka and Otomo Sorin led 30,000 army and marched towards the Hyuga Province. Yoshihisa led an army of 50,000 and prepared to crush his opponent.
[edit] The battle
Determined to crush the growing power of the Shimazu, Otomo Sorin and his son Yoshimune led an enormous host into Hyuga, intent on recapturing lands taken from the Ito family. Tawara Chikataka, Sorin's brother-in-law, led the bulk of the army to besiege Shimazu Iehisa in Taka castle. Yoshihisa hastily rallied his army and marched north to Sadowara, where he was briefly held up by bad weather. Meanwhile, his brother Yoshihiro, who was advancing along a different route, encountered and scattered an advance Otomo force, following up this success with the destruction of an enemy fort at Matsuyama. Yoshihisa then advanced to the Taka area, and joined with the rest of the Shimazu clan. In the resulting battle Tawara sent the Otomo army in a frontal attack that was repulsed after some bitter fighting. The Otomo were quickly routed, and Yoshihisa won an amazing victory that cost his enemy thousands of men and heralded their decline.
